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CUBA AND PORTO RICO 



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CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

WITH THE OTHER ISLANDS 
OF THE WEST INDIES 



THEIR TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, FLORA, 

PRODUCTS, INDUSTRIES, CITIES, PEOPLE, 

POLITICAL CONDITIONS, ETC. 



BY 

ROBERT T. HILL 

OF THE UNITED STATES GEOl64iCAL SUEVEY 




NEW YORK 
THE CENTURY CO. 

1898 



185:^3 



Copyright, 1898, 
By The Century Co. 



COPIES REC£i VED- 




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The DeVinne Press. 



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TO 

PROFESSOR ALEXANDER AGASSIZ 

THIS WOEK IS DEDICATED IN APPRECIATION OP HIS 

RESEARCHES INTO THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE 

WEST INDIAN SEAS AND 

ISLANDS 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

THE GEOGEAPHIC EELATIONS OF THE WEST INDIES 

PAGE 

Position relative to the continents. Types of the surrounding lands. 
The east-and-west trends of the Antillean Mountains. Differ- 
ences between the Gulf and Caribbean basins 1 

CHAPTER II 

THE WEST INDIAN WATEKS 

The American Mediterranean. Its area and littorals. Distinctness 
from the oceanic basins. The currents and winds inducing the 
equable temperature and conditions of life. The remarkable sub- 
marine configuration. The great deeps and flooded mountains. 
Pecuhar aspects of the life of the waters. Influence of the coral 
polyps in making the rocks of the islands. Passes into the Atlantic 7 

CHAPTER III 

CLASSIFICATION OF THE WEST INDIAN ISLANDS 

Their number, area, and populations. Antithetic nature of their ori- 
gin, configuration, and resources. Classification into groups of 
similar type. The Grreat Antilles. The Bahamas. The Caribbean 
chain. The South American islands of the Trinidad type. Reefs 
and keys. Their pohtical organization 18 

CHAPTER IV 

THE GEEAT ANTILLES 

Their individuahty. Distinctness of physical characters from those 
of the United States. Continental diversity of their configuration 
as compared with the monotypic character of the other islands. 



Vlll CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Antillean mountain system. Variety of resources. Total 
population. Diversity of social conditions presented in the four 
chief islands • 27 

CHAPTER V 
THE ISLAND OF CUBA 

Physical features. Situation, commercial and strategic position. 
Outlines, dimensions, area. The configuration. The coast and 
littoral. Abundance of harbors. The bordering keys. The in- 
terior mountain ranges. The plains of Cuba. The cuchillas of 
the east. The teiraces of Guantauamo. Valleys and depressions. 
Rivers, lakes, and swamps. Caves and scenic features .... 33 

CHAPTER VI 
CLIMATE, FLORA, AND FAUNA 

Temperature and precipitation. Native trees and flowers. The royal 
palm. Scarcity of mammals. Birds, reptiles, and insect life . . 50 

CHAPTER VII 
HEALTH AND SANITATION 

Natural healthf ulness of the island. Ordinary diseases due to tropical 
situation. Epidemics and yellow fever. Hygienic precautions 
and suggestions 57 

CHAPTER VIII 
GEOGRAPHIC SUBDIVISIONS 

Administrative departments. Numerical population. Resum6 of pre- 
vious history leading to present conditions. Administration and 
goverament. Absolutism of authority. Its effects and influ- 
ences. Rehgion and education 62 

CHAPTER IX 
THE RESOURCES OF THE ISLAND 

Agricultural supremacy. The cultivation of sugar. The superior 
advantages of Cuba for sugar-culture. The plantations de- 
scribed. Tobacco-culture. The te</«« of the Vuelta Abajo. Skill 
of Cuban tobacco-planters. Coffee, fruits, and minor agricultural 
products. Cattle and hve stock. Minerals 76 



CONTENTS IX 



CHAPTER X 

COMMEECE AND TEANSPOETATION 

PAGE 

Harbors, railways, highways. Sources of wealth. The large com- 
merce of the island. Commercial value of the island to Spain. 
Trade with the United States 86 

CHAPTER XI 

THE PEOPLE OF CUBA 

Misconceptions concerning the people of Cuba. Degrees and variety 
of people. The five classes of people. The Spaniards and other 
foreigners. The white Cubans. Effects of disenfranchisement 
and conscriptions. HospitaHty and courtesy. Strong family at- 
tachments. The Cuban women. The laboring classes. The col- 
ored and black population. No danger of negro supremacy . . 97 

CHAPTER Xn 
CUBAN CITIES: HAVANA 

Large number of cities in proportion to population. Havana and ad- 
jacent towns. Imposing appearance from the sea, and picturesque 
location. The bay and shipping. Prevalent building-material and 
type of architecture. The central plaza. European aspect of the 
city. The Prado. Notable structures. Tomb of Columbus. 
Charitable institutions. Homes and private dwellings. The busi- 
ness streets. Street-cars and carriages. Places of recreation. 
Pinar del Rio. Cabanas and Mariel 107 

CHAPTER XIII 

OTHEE CUBAN CITIES 

Matanzas. Beauty of the surrounding country. Cardenas. Sagua 
la Grande. Cienfuegos. Trinidad. Santa Clara. Puerto Principe, 
Bayamo, and Holguin. ManzaniUo. Santiago de Cuba. Guan- 
tanamo. Baracoa 120 

CHAPTER XIV 

THE FUTUEE OF THE ISLAND 

The coming industrial rehabilitation. Limitations of climate and 
possibilities. Opportunities for small farming. The reopening of 



X CONTENTS 

PAGE 

the sugar- plantations. Industi'ial openings. Future railway con- 
struction and public works. Harbors and municipal improve- 
ment.s. Commercial expansion 134 

CHAPTER XV 

THE ISLAND OF POETO RICO 

Situation and physical features. Configuration. Outline. Pictu- 
resque topography. Drainage. Abundance of rivers. Flora' and 
fauna. Geology. Chmate. Hygiene and sanitation 145 

CHAPTER XVI 

HISTORY AND ADMINISTRATION 

Spanish character of its institutions and peoples. Uneventful course 
of its progress. Government and administration. Religion and 
education 164 

CHAPTER XVII 

TRANSPORTATION, AGRICULTURE, INDUSTRY, 
AND COMMERCE 

Harbors. Railways. Highways. Telegraph. Diversified nature of 
the agriculture. Large number of small farms. Sugar-estates. 
Coffee-culture. Menores. Importance of the cattle industry. 
Commerce and trade. Bad condition of the currency .... 158 

CHAPTER XVIII 

THE PEOPLE 

Statistical details of number, sex, nativity, race, and literacy. Ex- 
cess of males. Small proportion of foreign people. Di\'isions 
into classes. The " Spaniards " (white Porto Ricans). The giba- 
ros, or peasantry. The negi-oes. Former conditions of slaveiy 
in Porto Rico 164 

CHAPTER XIX 
CITIES OF POETO RICO 

San Juan. Ponce. Mayaguez. Aguadilla. Arecibo. Fajardo. Na- 
guabo, Arroyo, San German, and small towns. Islands attached 
to the government of Porto Rico 172 

I 



CONTENTS XI 

CHAPTER XX 

JAMAICA 

PAGE 

Geographical features of the island. Its central position in the 
West Indies. The Blue Mountain scenery. The limestone pla- 
teau. The coast border and plains. Flora, fauna, climate, sani- 
tation 185 

CHAPTER XXI 

JAMAICA (Continued) 

A model British colony. Respect for law and order. Early history 
and administration. Agriculture. Rise of the fruit industry. 
Commerce. Railways. Excellent highways 202 

CHAPTER XXII 

JAMAICA (Continued) 

Cities and villages. Kingston. Spanish Town. Port Antonio. Mon- 
. tego Bay. Rural life. The people. Excess of the black population. 
Color-hne and distinctions. Dress and habits of the blacks. Folk- 
lore of the negroes. A peculiar alphabet. Dependencies of Ja- 
maica 219 

CHAPTER XXIII 

THE ISLAND OF SANTO DOMINGO 

Difficulties of nomenclature. Geographical features of the island. 
Irregularity of outline. Mountains and valleys. The Alps of the 
Antilles. Classification of the ranges. Rivers and lakes. Cli- 
mate. Geology. Fauna 236 

CHAPTER XXIV 

THE EEPUBLIC OF SAN DOMINGO 

Pohtical and social conditions of the island as a whole. The republic 
of San Domingo. Interesting early history. The present gov- 
ernment and administration. Commerce and agriculture. Min- 
eral resources. Population. Predominance of mulattos. Old 
San Domingo city. Early American landmarks. Other points 
of interest 251 



Xll CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XXV 

THE EEPUBLIC OF HAITI 

PAGE 

Its mountainous character. Extensive coast-line. Its constitution 
ajxd organization. Education and religion. Commerce and rev- 
enue. Communication. Cities (Cape Haitien, Port dePaix,Gonaives, 
St, Marc, Port-au-Prince, Aux Cayes). The people. Supremacy 
of the blacks. Race antipathies. Personal appearance and domes- 
tic relations of the Haitians. Superstitions. The struggle for hb- 
ei-ty. The blacks not to blame for the condition of the repubhc. 
Island products and commerce 263 

CHAPTER XXVI 

THE BAHAMAS 

General geographic featiires. Dissimilarity to other West Indian 
Islands. Products and popiilation. Poverty and decadence of 
the people. Varied race character of the blacks 296 

CHAPTER XXVII 

THE LESSEE ANTILLES 

Natui'al beauty of the islands. Distribution among many govern- 
ments. Differentiation into four types 305 

CHAPTER XXVIII 

THE VIKGIN ISLANDS AND ST. CKOIX 

Their Antillean character and position. Geological character. Va- 
rious kinds of government. St. Thomas. St. John. Virgin Gorda. 
Anegada, St. Croix 309 

CHAPTER XXIX 

THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS 

Classification into volcanic and calcareous subgroups. The Anguil- 
lan subgroup. Sombrero. Anguilla. St. Barts. St. Martin. 
Barbuda. Antigua 318 



CONTENTS Xlli 

CHAPTER XXX 

THE VOLCANIC CAKIBBEES 

PAGE 

Siii^ar beauty of the islands. Flora, fauna, and geological char- 
acter. Saba. St. Eustatius. St. Christopher. Nevis. Montserrat 326 

CHAPTER XXXI 
THE ISLANDS OF GUADELOUPE AND DOMINICA 

Government and resources of Guadeloupe. Basse-Terre. Grande-Terre. 
Maria Galante. Desirade. Les Saintes. Cities and towns of Guade- 
loupe. Domiiiica the beautiful. A fertile soil awaiting cultivation . 337 

CHAPTER XXXn 
THE ISLAND OF MAETINIQUE 

Beauty of its landscape. A description of the forests. History and 
present economic condition. The city of St. Pierre. Botanical 
■ gardens. Fort-de-France. The fantastic population . . . . 345 

CHAPTER XXXIII 

ST. LUCIA, ST. VINCENT, THE GEENADINES, AND GEENADA 

England's stronghold in the West Indies. The Pitohs. Agricultural 
depression. Recollections of Eodney 357 

CHAPTER XXXIV 

THE SOUTH AMEEICAN ISLANDS 

Trinidad, Tobago, and Cura9ao. The peculiar geographical features 
of Trinidad. Port of Spain. Pohtical conditions. Population 
and people. The island of Tobago. Curasao, the capital of the 
Dutch West Indies . 365 

CHAPTER XXXV 

BAEBADOS 

Insular position of the island. The coralline origin of its soils. Gov- 
ernment and economic conditions. The Barbadians. Density of 
population. The struggle for existence 373 



XIV CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XXXVT 

GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE WEST INDIES 

PAGE 

General paucity of mineral resources. Iron. Manganese. Salt, 
Phosphate. Sulphm*. Asphaltum. Peculiar geological history 
of the region. Its bearing upon the myth of Atlantis . . . , 380 

CHAPTER XXXVII 
RACE PROBLEMS IN THE WEST INDIES 

Varied nationality and character of the inhabitants. Condition of 
the native whites. Possibilities of the white race. The negi'oes. 
Their general character, habits, and moral condition. Obiism, or 
witchcraft 387 

CHAPTER XXXVIII 

THE FUTURE OF THE WEST INDIES 

Vicissitudes which have been sui-vived. Depression of the sugar in- 
dustry. The bane of alien laud-tenure. Bad effect of pohtical 
distribution. Prospective relations with the United States , . . 400 

Index 409 



LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS 



MAP OF THE WEST INDIES Frofitispiece 

FACING PAGE 

TEAVELEK'S palm, GAEDEN, ST. PIEEEE, MAETINIQUE— 

NOT INDIGENOUS 16 

COCOANUT-PALMS, PLUMB POINT LIGHTHOUSE, JAMAICA . 24 

BANIAN-TEEE, BEIDGETOWN, BAEBADOS 24 

PLAZA IN FEONT OF CAPTAIN-GENEEAL'S PALACE, HAVANA 32 

GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE ISLAND OF CUBA ...... 40 

MATANZAS 44 

Church of Montserrat— Yumuri Valley, near Matanzas 

AFTEENOON DEIVE IN EUEAL CUBA 48 

MATANZAS 52 

Drive to the Bellamar Caves— Royal Pahns, Sugar-Estate— Offi- 
cial Building 

HAVANA 57 

View in the Botanical Gardens— Fruit-Stand— A Market-Place 
— "Leche a Domiciho "—Donkeys Loaded with Wood 

SCENES IN CUBA 60 

Pack-Horse Loaded with Rum— A Funeral Car 

HAVANA ' 64 

Plaza des Armas and Captaia-General's Palace— Templete 
Monument, Erected at Site of First Mass Said in Havana 

HAVANA 72 

Regla, the Brooklyn of Havana, Ferry-Boat in Foreground— 
At the Boat-Landing— Water-Front, Havana Bay 

SUGAE-HOUSE ON PLANTATION, CUBA 76 

XV 



XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PAGE 

SCENES IN CUBA 78 

A Car-Load of Sugar-Cane, Sauta Anna— Cutting Sugar-Cane 
with Machete 

SCENES IN CUBA 80 

Huts on Solebad Estate, near Cienfuegos— Hormiguera Sugar- 
Estate, Cienfuegos—Pmeapples— Bananas near Cienfuegos 

MINE OF IRON ORE NEAR JURAGUA, TWELVE MILES EAST 

OF SANTIAGO DE CUBA 84 

HAVANA 88 

MoiTo Castle from the East— Panorama of the Prado 

SCENES IN CUBA 97 

A Countrj' House— A Cuban Peasant House of the Better Sort 
— Peasant Holding a Wooden Plow 

A CUBAN TYPE 102 

THE SAN CARLOS CLUB, SANTIAGO DE CUBA 104 

THE YUMURI VALLEY NEAR MATANZAS, CUBA .... 108 

HAVANA 112 

Old Church Used as Custom-House— The Cathedral 

GENERAL \TEW OF HAVANA FROM CABANAS SHORE . .116 

MATANZAS— GENERAL VIEW 120 

VIEW IN THE PLAZA, CIENFUEGOS 124 

SANTIAGO DE CUBA , 126 

General View— The Cathedral 

SANTIAGO DE CUBA 128 

Smith Key— Mon-o Castle 

SANTIAGO DE CUBA 130 

Plaza— Calle de Puerto 

SANTIAGO DE CUBA 132 

Plaza— Street Scene— Market— Negroes 

BARACAO, CUBA 136 

PONCE, PORTO RICO 145 

Cascade of Plaza de las Dehcias— Isabel Street 

ENTRANCE TO SAN JUAN, PORTO RICO 152 

A STATE FUNERAL, SAN JUAN, PORTO RICO 160 

PORTO RICO 168 

Utuado— Plaza and Cathedral at Arecibo— Palms near San Juan 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xvii 

FACING PAGE 

JAMAICA 185 

Port Royal from the Sea— Rock Coast and Pseudo- Atolls, Mon- 
tego Bay— Harbor of Port Royal 

JAMAICA 188 

Mountain Scenery— Newcastle Barracks 

EAST INDIAN COOLIES, JAMAICA 192 

CEIBA-TEEE AND COUNTRY ESTATE, JAMAICA 200 

CULTIVATION OF SUGAR-CANE, JAMAICA 208 

A CEIBA OR SILK-COTTON TREE . .216 

CACTUS AND CHAPARRAL, JAMAICA . . . . . . . .216 

JAMAICA 220 

Country House, Retreat Pen, Clarendon— Kingston Street Scene 

JAMAICA 224 

Negresses Transporting Charcoal— Logwood Collected for 
Shipment 

JAMAICANS CARRYING BANANAS— BREADFRUIT-TREE OVER- 
HEAD , 232 

SANTO DOMINGO 240 

Santo Cerro Church and Nispero de Colon, or Tree of Colum- 
bus, beneath which Mass was Celebrated after the Great Vic- 
tory over the Indians of La Vega— A Street Showing Cathedral 

SANTO DOMINGO 256 

Citadel where Columbus was Imprisoned— Alleged Coffin of 
Columbus 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI 272 

Cathedral — Street Scenes i 

BAHAMAS 296 

Cliffs of Eleuthera Island— Watlings Island— United States 
Consul's House, Nassau— Street Scene, Nassau 

BAY AND CITY OF ST. THOMAS 312 

ENTIRE POPULATION OF A NEGRO HAMLET, ANTIGUA . . 320 

ANTIGUA 322 

Street Showing Cathedral and PubUc Library, St. John— 

Sugar-Estate 

ST. JOHN, ANTIGUA 324 

A Subtirban Highway— View of City and Harbor 

FORT-DE-FRANCE, MARTINIQUE , . 326 



XVlll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PAGE 

CAKIBBEE ISLANDS 328 

Town of Bottom, Island of Saba, Situated in an Old Crater— 
Gustavia, St. Bartholomew 

ST. KITTS 332 

Public Garden— View 

MARKET, GUADELOUPE 338 

CARIB INDIANS MAKING BASKETS, DOMINICA 340 

MARTINIQUE 345 

Statue of Josephine— Old Mill on Estate where Josephine 
was Bom 

MARTINIQUE 348 

Landing, St. Pierre— St. PieiTe 

TYPES OF WOMEN, MARTINIQUE 352 

FUle de Covdeur— French Negress— Negro Woman— Mulatto 
Gii-1 

ST. LUCIA 357 

Plantations near South End— One of the Pitons 

ST. VINCENT 360 

Georgetown— Kingstown 

ST. VINCENT 362 

Sugar-Plantation, Fort Davinet— Windward Coast— Market 

GRENADA 364 

St. George's Harbor— St. George 

TRINIDAD 366 

PubUc Offices- Port of Spain 

PITCH LAKE, TRINIDAD 368 

TRINIDAD 370 

CooUes— CooHe Houses 

BARBADOS 373 

Gathering Sugar-Cane— Pubhc Library, Bridgetown— Laun- 
dresses— Turning the Windmill 

BRIDGETOWN ROADSTEAD, BARBADOS 374 

BARBADOS 376 

Street Scene, Bridgetown— Country Church— Landing Wharf, 
Bridgetown 

BARBADIAN NEGROES 378 

Group of Overseers— Trinket-Seller— Pottery- Vender 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS XIX 

FACING PAGE 

COAST VIEWS, BAEBADOS 380 

Rolled Boulder from Elevated Eeef— Horizontal Sea Erosion 
of Rolled Boulders— Effect of Trade- Winds on Vegetation- 
Bathing Beach and Elevated Reef— Sea-Coast Scene— Elevated 
Reef Terrace 

BAEBADIAN TYPES 387 

Fisherman— Earthenware-Seller— Street Arab 

TYPES, BAEBADOS AND GUADELOUPE 388 

Going to Market, Barbados— Field-Hands, Barbados (Note 
Characteristic Barbadian Heads)— Woman in Characteristic 
Costume, French Mulatto, Guadeloupe . 

ST. VINCENT 390 

Carib Indians— Carib Rock- Inscriptions 

ST. VINCENT 392 

Negro Hut— African Basket- Wattle House, Board House, Ad- 
aptation of Same 

ANTIGUA AND BAEBADOS 394 

Negro Hut, Antigua— Negroes and Low Whites, East Side of 
Barbados— Fisherman's Hut, Barbados 

NEGEO HUT, ST. VINCENT 396 

SUGAE-CULTUEE, BAEBADOS 400 

Newcastle Sugar-MiU— Spreading Bagasse to Dry for Fuel- 
Cane- Grinding by Windmill Power 

IMPOVEEISHED SUGAE-ESTATES, BAEBADOS 404 



INTEODUCTION 

WE have recently been called a nation of Yankee 
traders. This compliment, although not so in- 
tended, classifies us among the most highly civilized na- 
tions, which are those that excel in commerce, and signal- 
izes our need of foreign markets. 

The great nations of Europe are apportioning the terri- 
tories of weaker peoples among themselves for the purpose 
of monopolizing their trade. Whether the United States 
is to enter into such operations or not, we cannot say, nor 
is it the purpose of this book to discuss the question. Our 
future prosperity as a nation depends largely on the 
equality of terms upon which our products can obtain 
market abroad. Every square mile fenced in by tariff 
laws of prohibitive nations is our commercial loss ; every 
one opened is our gain. It was Spain's attempt to divert 
the trade of Cuba from its natural channels by discrimi- 
native duties that fomented the discord leading to the 
present war; it was the protective barrier placed by us 
against the sugar of the West Indian Islands which almost 
paralyzed them. 

We are not only a nation of traders, but we are a nation 
of Yankee tinkers, and it is our scientific expertness in 
developing natural resources, in increasing the productive 
labor of the individual, and in quickening transportation, 
that has enabled us to develop wildernesses and to revive 
countries which have grown old in conservative ways. 
Our methods of industrial development are scientific, and 



XXU INTRODUCTION 

the art of commerce goes hand in hand with geography. 
Not far from our borders is the wonderful and interesting 
West Indian region, which is ah-eady a fair field of trade, 
and which, present events indicate, will be a better one in 
coming years. American industrial methods may be ap- 
plied to this region, and it is an opportune moment to 
make a scientific presentation of its conditions and possi- 
bilities. 

It is a difl&cult task to convey a correct impression of the 
natural and economic conditions of the tropical American 
countries and their inhabitants. Too often these are 
judged by the standards of our own surroundings and 
customs, which are those of an entirely different environ- 
ment. The configuration of the lands, geological struc- 
ture, climate, and products of the soil— upon all of which 
culture depends — are so different from those of our own 
country that we are confronted at the outset with a lack 
of suitable bases for comparison. The peoples and coun- 
tries of the American Mediterranean cannot be classified 
together as social or geographic units. Nowhere in the 
world are so many extremes of natural conditions, popu- 
lation, and government to be found. As elsewhere, cli- 
mate, configuration, and fertility of soil are there the first 
considerations that influence productivity, while political 
organization has also largely conditioned the degi'ee of 
civilization. Neighboring localities present great con- 
trasts. Here are lands which have grown up through the 
agency of the coral-reef builders, eminences piled high by 
vast volcanic extrusions, high plateaus, and mountain 
ridges of the lifted and folded sediments of the ocean's 
floor, each of which, with modifications of altitude and 
cliiuate, produces a soil differing from the others in agri- 
cultural and economic possibilities. The reef -veneered 
Barbados, the volcanic areas of Central America, the 
Windward Islands, and the high, arid i3lateau of Mexico, 
respectively, are types of these contrasting lands, and the 
Great Antilles are peculiar combinations of all. 



INTRODUCTION XXIU 

There is an impression that the peoples of these coun- 
tries are either negro or Spanish, and that despotism or 
anarchy, due to the character of the inhabitants rather 
than to environment and administration, are the prevalent 
political conditions. In these heterogeneous conceptions 
the dominant Indian population of Mexico, the negroes of 
Haiti, and the white Creoles of the islands are indiscrimi- 
nately considered together. But this region is a most 
remarkable example of the combined influences upon 
mankind of geography, race, and government, and is prac- 
tically a great sociological laboratory where many human 
species are being differentiated. 

It is true that some people of Spanish descent, in coun- 
tries like Colombia, Honduras, and San Salvador, where 
population is scattered and separated by topographic ob- 
stacles fatal to the establishment of strong governments, 
are normally in revolt. There are other Spanish- American 
republics which, in comparison with the government of 
the European country from which they seceded, are fair 
models of stability and prosperity, such as Costa Eica,— 
where capital punishment has been abolished, — which is 
as peaceful as Acadia, and boasts that it has never had a 
war. Argentina and Chile are worthy of consideration; 
and Mexico, by gigantic strides, since free from European 
interference, has changed from a land of revolution and 
banditti to the home of a prosperous industrial and com- 
mercial nation. 

The conditions of the tropical countries in which the 
negro race prevails are indeed varied, but in some instances 
better than is generally supposed. The Haitians have 
made more progress than is credited to them ; their revolt- 
ing experience has caused us to overlook the fact that other 
negro populations, such as those of Jamaica and Barbados, 
—where the blacks outnumber the whites in the proportion 
of fifty to one,— under beneficent English colonial con- 
trol, at least present orderly spectacles. Of these tropical 
countries and peoples, we are now chiefly concerned with 



XXIV INTRODUCTION 

the West Indies, especiall}^ Cuba, with a secondary interest 
in Porto Kico— the only islands where the white race has 
become acclimated and numerically dominant, and whose 
political administrations have been most disturbed, despite 
their superior natural resources. The other islands present 
equally interesting economic and sociologic studies. 

The West Indies since their introduction to European 
civilization have been attractive objects of interest and 
have presented a wonderful panorama of human and natu- 
ral phenomena. They have been the theater of historic 
action, the center from which early American exploration 
radiated, and the base of geographic operations during 
those entrancing years when mariners ever scanned the 
horizon in expectation of discovering the new and the 
wonderful. They have been the battle-ground of the New 
World of nations from the formative centuries until the 
present civilization. They have been the grand arena of 
the war of races. First, the Spanish conquered the abori- 
gines ; then English, Dutch, French, and Dane, anxious for 
participation, strove to share in the possession of the 
Indies, and even individuals, as pirates and bucaneers, 
took part in the general seizure. The din of European 
arms over these waters continued intermittently until the 
beginning of this century. Cities with old-world walls, forti- 
fications, and institutions had grown opulent in the West 
Indies, or had been destroyed by the guns of foreign foes, 
before the landing upon Plymouth Rock or the settlement 
of Jamestown had initiated Anglo-American civilization. 
Every island is strewn with old cannon and picturesque 
ruins of antique battlements which attest the days when 
individuals and nations preyed upon the Spanish Main. 
Here Morgan, Drake, Grenville, De Grasse, Rodney, Nelson, 
Albemarle, and other sea warriors of note won victories 
or suffered defeat, and many a brave forefather from our 
own colonies participated in the struggle. 

African slaves were implanted upon territory gained by 
Caucasian from aborigine. By the close of the last cen- 



INTEODUCTION XXV 

tury, when the civilized nations had about adjusted their 
territorial disputes, the slaves had attained numerical 
strength, and from time to time rose in revolt— usually to 
be suppressed with a loss of life most appalling, but in 
some cases achieving a success that so completely ban- 
ished European life and influences that civilization asks 
in wonder if this Eden of nature is not being transformed 
into an American Africa, with its barbarous rites and 
superstitions. As a climax to this tumult we have lately 
seen in Haiti the spectacle of pure negro blood extermi- 
nating the mulattos. 

These islands were the commercial paradise of the first 
three centuries of American settlement, and lands now 
gone back to jungle sold as high as a thousand dollars an 
acre, "in those booming days when sugar was at 32." 
Here manufacturers found market for all the weaves and 
notions of their making. The West India trade enriched 
the merchants of Barcelona and London, and the products 
of the plantations established many a fortune in England, 
France, and Spain. Even now their trade exceeds that of 
all Mexico and Central America. 

In the era of their prosperity noble families of European 
descent founded establishments of patriarchal grandeur, 
luxurious and hospitable beyond description. In these 
times the islands gave birth to Alexander Hamilton, our 
first great financier, and Josephine, who became Empress 
of the French. Here, too, Nelson, then a captain in the 
British navy, was married to the wife who was faithful to 
his unfaithfulness. No greater proof can be found of the 
value of the West Indies at the close of the last century 
than the fact that to England the loss of the colonies which 
now constitute our republic seemed of secondary impor- 
tance to Eodney's great naval victory over the French off 
Martinique, whereby her supremacy in the West Indies 
was established. In the light of eighteenth-century values 
the American colonies were of trivial worth in comparison 
with the West Indies, and we may perhaps thank our 



XXVI INTRODUCTION 

destinies that England at that time devoted her superior 
forces to retaining the latter. 

To the naturalist the islands are a paradise, and in their 
plants, animals, and rocks he finds not only the new and 
wonderful, but grand problems of origin and distribution. 
How these lands arose from the sea, and what their rela- 
tions to the continents are, must still be regarded as ques- 
tions not satisfactorily answered. 

From the esthetic standpoint these islands have been 
the inspiration of noble works of prose and poetry. Scenic 
pictures of mountains, valleys, and coast everywhere over- 
whelm the eye with wealth of form, while rich vegetation 
of a hundred tints, shaded or illuminated by clouds and 
sunlight, presents an unrivaled wealth of color. The 
whole, set in a framework of glorious sea, is a marvelous 
natural picture. 

Books have been written treating of various places and 
parts of the West Indies, but, within the past quarter- 
century at least, none which presents a geographic and 
economic conspectus of the subject as a whole — a fact 
apparent to the traveler who searches in vain for such a 
reliable guide-book. Some writers, like Stoddard, Ober, 
St. John, and Bryan Edwards, have presented charming 
glimpses of certain portions of the islands. Kingsley, 
in " Westward Ho ! " and " At Last," has given descrip- 
tions of scenes and localities which will have a permanent 
place in literature. Michael Scott, the author of " Tom 
Cringle's Log," Mayne Eeid, Marryat, and Robert Louis 
Stevenson have produced amusing sketches of scenes here 
and there. Samuel Hazard has written two instructive 
books on the every-day scenes and life of Cuba and Santo 
Domingo. Lafcadio Hearn's "Two Years in the West 
Indies," giving the strange story of the life and decadence 
of the French island of Martinique, is a most readable and 
instructive book. St. John has graphically told the heroic 
story of l)lack Haiti's struggles for freedom and its revolt- 
ing sequence. Fronde has written of the English in the 



INTKODUCTION XXVll 

West Indies, and Anthony Trollope has given a conspectus 
of the islands in the middle of the present century, just 
before the epoch of emancipation which upset their indus- 
trial system ; and this should be read by all who wish to 
see the changes which fifty years have wrought. Captain 
Marry at has recorded in fiction, and John Fiske in history, 
the stories of the bucaneering and freebooting on the 
Spanish Main. Of the more solid historical works, John 
Fiske's writings, especially his "Discovery of America" 
and "Old Virginia and her Neighbors," give admirable 
summaries of earlier West Indian events and the intimate 
relations that once existed between the American colonies 
and the islands. 

Of economic treatises there are several special works, 
such as M. Ramon de La Sagra's "Histoire physique, 
politique et naturelle de I'ile de Cuba," Humboldt's writ- 
ings, Tippenhauer's "Haiti," Schomburgk's "Barbados," 
and several French works on the present and former pos- 
sessions of France. These, however, with the exception 
of Tippenhauer's " Haiti," a report of the English Sugar 
Commission, and various consular reports, were written in 
the earlier decades of the century, and treat of slave con- 
ditions which are now obsolete. Captain Mahan, in his 
various books and magazine articles, has described the 
present strategic importance of the islands and the great 
naval battles of the past. 

Of works treating of the natural history of the West 
Indies there are but few of a general or comprehensive 
character. Exploration has been sporadic and unsys- 
tematic, although in these islands is the key to all the 
higher problems of zoogeography and the evolution of the 
continents. There is one notable exception ; for years Pro- 
fessor Alexander Agassiz has personally conducted or in- 
spired many explorations in this region, and has published 
valuable technical works thereon. His " Three Cruises of 
the Blahe," a treatise on the wonderful configuration of 
the sea bottoms and their mysterious life, is a most read- 



XXVIU INTKODUCTION 

able and instructive work on the geology and zoology. 
His works on tlie living and fossil coral reefs, such as 
" The Florida Reefs," " The Cruise of the Wild Duck," and 
one on the Bahamas, are of greatest interest. To Professor 
Agassiz's desire to advance the knowledge of the West 
Indies the writer is indebted for the opportunity of several 
years' travel, whereby he was enabled to study their geog- 
raphy and geology, to observe their social and economic 
conditions, and to obtain experiences which have made 
this book possible. 

The author cannot hope to present in the present work 
a better description of the "West Indies than has been given 
in fragments by these earlier writers. He believes, how- 
ever, that there is need for a comprehensive book on the 
region as a whole, and one which will treat its conditions 
as they appear to-day, giving the essential facts concerning 
the physical geography, cHmate, economic geology, agri- 
culture, commerce, and social conditions of these islands, 
as well as the possibilities of their future development. 
While the work will be chiefly based upon the results of 
his own personal examinations, the scattered and in some 
instances almost inaccessible observations of others wiU 
be freely used. When statistics are given they will be 
presented as the best obtainable figures concerning a 
region where the arts of collecting and classifying such 
data are by no means the favorite occupations of the 
inhabitants. 



WITH THE OTHER 

ISLANDS OF 
THE WEST INDIES 

CKAPTER I 

THE GEOGEAPHIC EELATIONS OF THE WEST INDIES 

Position relative to the continents. Types of the surrounding lands. The 
east-and-west trends of the Antillean Mountains. Differences between 
the Gulf and Caribbean basins. 

A PROPER conception of the social and economic con- 
ditions of the various West Indian Islands and their 
relations, or rather lack of relations, to the adjacent conti- 
nents, will be facilitated by a few preliminary words upon 
the general geography of the American Mediterranean re- 
gion, of which they are integral parts. This will avoid 
much unnecessary repetition in the descriptions of the 
various islands. 

The western hemisphere is divisible into three distinct 
continental regions, the North, Central, and South Ameri- 
can. North America is the most western ^ of the continents, 
and terminates in southern Mexico, at the end of the Rocky 

1 In northern latitudes we look upon the Pacific as situated to our west ; but 

were it not for the island of Cuba and the narrow isthmian neck, one could 

strike it by sailing almost due south from New York, and the whole of the 

South American continent is situated far east of the mass of North America. 

1 1 



I CUBA AND POKTO KICO 

Mountain region. South America is the eastern continent, 
and terminates with the end of the northern Andes in the 
RepubHc of Colombia. The Central American continent is 
an east-and-west isthmus connecting the termini of the 
North and South American continents. Central America 
and the West Indies, including the Gulf of Mexico and the 
Caribbean Sea (together forming the American Mediterra- 
nean), are more complex features, largely individual in their 
aspects, although more nearly related to one another and 
to the northern coast of South America than they are to 
the main bodies of the larger continents. 

Geography has taught that the American continents are 
dominated by a continuous CordiUeran system running like 
a backbone through South, Central, and North America, 
connecting the whole western border of the hemisphere by 
one great mountain sj'^stem, which has persisted through 
long epochs of time. This is an erroneous idea, for the so- 
called continental backbone is not a geographic unit, but 
is disconnected in places. In a later chapter I will show 
that the Central American isthmian barrier between the 
oceans was once freely invaded by the waters of the Pacific, 
while an entirely different isthmian bridge on the windward 
or eastern side of the Gulf and Caribbean Sea, now partially 
destroyed, probably connected or almost connected the 
continents from Florida to the northeast point of South 
America. Either this, or much of the present Central 
American lands, with some of the West Indian Islands, 
long before man appeared on this earth, formed a great 
archipelago— a veritable Atlantis— extending east and west 
between and directly across the trends of the North and 
South American continents. 

The east-front ranges of the North American Cordilleras 
are largely composed of old sediments of the Atlantic Ocean 
wliich were pushed up against a preexisting land lying to 
the west ; they are mountain ranges with north-and-south 
trends, accompanied by volcanic intrusions and ejecta. 
Geographers show that this system abruptly terminates 



THE GEOGRAPHIC RELATIONS OF THE WEST INDIES 3 

with the great scarp, or ahfall, of the so-called plateau of 
Mexico, in longitude 97° W., a little south of the capital of 
that republic, and that the mountains have no orographic 
continuity or other features in common with those of the 
Central American region. 

The Andean Cordilleras, which dominate the South 
American continental area, are largely composed of the old 
sediments of the Pacific Ocean, and are also accompanied 
by volcanic intrusions and ejecta now folded into north-and- 
south mountain trends. They too were pushed up against 
a preexisting land buttress, but this lay to the east, instead 
of to the west as in the case of the North American Cordil- 
leras. The Andean trend, which follows. the western side 
of South America, after crossing north of the equator, 
bends slightly eastward and abruptly terminates in north- 
ern Colombia, in longitude 70° W. Only one doubtful 
spur touches the coast of the American Mediterranean, the 
Sierra del Marta, lying between the Grulf of Maracaibo and 
the river Magdalena. The Andes have no genetic connec- 
tion with the ranges extending east and west along the 
Venezuelan coast of South America, much less with the 
mountains of Central America or with the great Rocky 
Mountain region of Mexico and the United States. The 
northern end of the Andean system lies entirely east of the 
Central American region, and is separated from it by the 
Eio Atrato— the most western of the great rivers of Colom- 
bia. In fact, the deeply eroded drainage valley of this stream 
nearly severs the Pacific coast of the Republic of Colombia 
and the isthmian region from the South American continent. 

The trends of the great North and South American 
Cordilleras, the Rocky Mountain and the Andean systems, 
if protracted from their termini in southern Mexico and 
Colombia respectively, would not connect with each other 
through Central America, but would pass the latitude of 
the Antilles in parallel lines nearly two thousand miles 
apart. The Andean trends, if extended, would pass through 
Jamaica and eastern Cuba, and continue almost east of the 



4 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

North American coiitiiieut iu the direction of Nova Scotia. 
A similar southward extension of the North American 
Cordilleras would cany them into the waters of the Pacific, 
crossing the equator far west of Central America and the 
South American continent. 

In the tropical latitudes, between the widely separated 
termini of the North and South American Cordilleras, as 
above defined, and extending directly at right angles to 
them, lies another mountain system, to which the term 
" Antillean " may be applied. This has been the fundamen- 
tal factor in West Indian configuration, although the system 
has not usually been properly appreciated by geologist and 
geographer, owing, no doubt, to the fact that its remarka- 
ble and continuous ranges are largely submerged beneath 
the waters of the Caribbean Sea. 

East-and-west mountain ranges of the Antillean type 
occur through the Great Antilles, along the Venezuelan and 
Colombian coast of South America, north of the Orinoco ; 
in the Isthmus of Panama, Costa Rica, and the eastern 
parts of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Yucatan, 
Chiapas, and southern Oaxaca. The two elongated sub- 
marine ridges, separated by the deep oceanic valley 
known as "Bartlett Deei3," which stretch across the 
Caribbean from the Antilles to the Central American 
coast, from the west end of the Sierra Maestra range of 
Cuba to the coast of Honduras, and from Jamaica to 
Cape Gracias a Dios, respectively, are similar in configu- 
ration to the east-and-west mountain ranges of the Great 
Antilles, and are, no doubt, genetically a part of them. 

The Antillean system is made up of east-and-west 
mountain ranges composed of folded sedimentaries. Like 
the Rocky Mountains and the Andes, it is accompanied by 
volcanic intrusions and ejeeta, but, instead of dominating 
a continental region, these uplifts practically have their 
greatest development on the Antillean Islands and in the 
submarine topography of the sea, and form a mountainous 
peruneter of the depressed Caribbean basin. 



THE GEOGEAPHIC KELATIONS OF THE WEST INDIES 5 

The great physical differences between the lands bor- 
dering the Grulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea are 
chiefly dependent upon the arrangement and relation of 
the Rocky Mountain, Andean, and Antillean systems of 
mountain folds. The first of these in its geognostic as- 
pects and relations is distinctly North American, the 
second South American, and the third is peculiarly Cen- 
tral American. The Gulf of Mexico is an indentation 
into the North American continent — the restricted sur- 
vival of a great interior sea which once extended over the 
Great Plains region of the United States, which at one 
time almost, if not entirely, separated North America 
into two great prehistoric continents, the Appalachian 
and Cordilleran. The basin of the Gulf is still filling up 
from the sediments brought down by rivers which drain 
nearly one fourth the area of the United States. With 
the single exception of its extreme southwestern indenta- 
tion upon the coast of Mexico, the Gulf is surrounded by 
low plains composed of great sheets of subhorizontal and 
unconsolidated sediments deposited when its own waters 
occupied a larger area than at present. The entire sea 
margin of the Gulf region of the United States and most 
of Mexico is of this nature, while the north coasts of 
Yucatan and portions of Cuba, although modified, are 
related phenomena. Thus the Gulf of Mexico, instead 
of having a mountainous periphery like the Caribbean, 
is bordered by plains. 

There is still another class of tropical mountains, distinct 
from those made of folds of the earth's sedimentary crust. 
These are the volcanoes which have grown by extrusion 
and accumulation. Sometimes they are parasitic upon 
the folded mother systems, sometimes independent of 
them. They belong to the great area of igneous erup- 
tivity which, at least since the beginning of Tertiary time, 
has marked the western half of the North American con- 
tinent, the northern and western sides of South America, 
and the eastern side of the Caribbean region. Although 



b CUBA AND POKTO RICO 

blending into one another, the volcanic areas of the tropics 
are of two distinct kinds, which we may call the quiescent 
and the active. , 

The active volcanic group occurs in four widely sepa- 
rated localities: 1. The Andean group of volcanoes of 
the equatorial region of western South America, which 
rise above the corrugated folds of the northern termination 
of the dominant South American Cordilleras. 2. The 
chain of some twenty-five great cinder-cones which stretch 
east and west across the south end of the Mexican Pla- 
teau, protruding on the terminal ranges of the North 
American Cordilleras. 3. The Central American group, 
with its thirty-one active craters, occurs diagonally across 
the western ends of the east-and-west folds of the Antil- 
lean corrugations, and fringes the Pacific side of Guate- 
mala, San Salvador, and Costa Rica. This is separated 
from the Mexican group on the north by a quiescent 
volcanic area, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and on the 
south from the Andean volcanoes by the Isthmus of 
Panama, where no active volcanoes are found. 4. The 
volcanoes of the Windward chain of islands, which mark 
the eastern gate of the Caribbean Sea in a line directly 
across the eastern terminus of the Antillean Mountains. 
These are parallel to the Central American group, and 
together these two groups constitute the eastern and west- 
ern borders of the Caribbean Sea. 

Other regions in which volcanic activity has been quiet 
in recent geologic epochs are the Great Antilles, the 
Isthmus of Panama, the Pacific coast of South America 
west of the Atrato, and the Venezuelan coast of South 
America. Thus the Caribbean is bordered on the east and 
west by volcanic chains, and on the north and south by 
mountain folds. 



CHAPTER II 

THE WEST INDIAN WATERS 

The American Mediterranean. Its area and littorals. Distinctness from 
the oceanic basins. The currents and winds inducing the equable tem- 
perature and conditions of life. The remarkable submarine configura- 
tion. The great deeps and flooded mountains. Peculiar aspects of the 
Hfe of the waters. Influence of the coral polyps in making the rocks 
of the islands. Passes into the Atlantic. 

HAVING- shown the fundamental relations of the tropi- 
cal American region, the essential features of its local 
geography can now be briefly outlined. First a word as 
to magnitude. When the writer first sailed for these 
waters he had the erroneous impression, which is shared 
by many, that the whole West Indian region could be 
seen and studied in a single season — an illusion which 
was dispelled by a few weeks' experience. It took some 
time to realize that- a journey across the greater length 
of the Gulf and Caribbean from Galveston to the mouth 
of the Orinoco was nearly four thousand miles, or one 
third more than the distance from New York to Liver- 
pool; that the eastern chain of islands from Florida to 
Trinidad was strung out for a thousand miles ; and that 
to go from Jamaica, near the geographic center of the 
region, to any of the peripheral points, such as Colon, 
Barbados, or Nassau, was a matter of three or four days' 
steaming. 

The waters of the G-ulf and Caribbean, 615,000 and 
750,000 square miles in area respectively, aggregate 1,365,- 

7 



O CUBA AND POETO KICO 

000 square miles, or one sixth the area of the North and 
Central American continents, while the land area of all the 
islands is nearly 100,000 square miles, not quite equal to 
that of the State of Colorado. 

The traveler who would circumnavigate the American 
Mediterranean, as the Gulf and Caribbean may be collec- 
tively termed, keeping the bordering lands in sight, say 
by entering at the Florida capes, and following the shores 
of Florida, Alabama, Mississi]3pi, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico, 
Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela 
to Trinidad, and thence up the inner margins of the Wind- 
ward Islands and the southern shores of the Great An- 
tilles back to the point of beginning, would be obliged to 
travel twelve thousand miles— nearly one half the earth's 
circumference. 

A word as to directions must be added. The prevalent 
trends are east and west in this region. The longest axes 
of the seas and islands are along east-and-west lines. Even 
the coasts of the surrounding mainlands are thus arranged. 
A glance at the straight east-and-west Caribbean coast of 
South America, Honduras, and Guatemala shows that 
the S-shaped outline of the isthmus also has a prevalent 
east-and-west direction. 

Volumes might be devoted to descriptions of the won- 
derful waters of the American Mediterranean. They have 
many phases of depth, current, temjDerature, and life, but 
we can only touch upon the essentials. This great tropi- 
cal body of water is not merely an arm of the ocean, in- 
denting and almost separating the American continents, 
but is a deep and well-defined marine basin or series of 
basins, more completely closed on the Atlantic side than 
is apparent from a glance at the map. The numerous 
islets of its eastern border, the Bahamas and Windward 
chain, which extend from Florida to the mouth of the 
Orinoco, are merely the summits of steep submarine ridges, 
which divide the depths of the Atlantic from those of the 
Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea; were their waters a 



THE WEST INDIAN WATEES 9 

few feet lower these ridges would completely landlock the 
seas from the ocean. 

Further study shows that this vast tropical sea is com- 
posed of a number of distinct basins, each marked by great 
depths and separated by lands or shallows — a condition 
somewhat comparable to that of our Great Lakes, if they 
and their adjacent lands were united into a continuous 
body of water by slight regional subsidences. These 
secondary divisions, which appear small upon the map 
and have less conspicuous land inclosures, are really 
extensive bodies of water, such as the Mosquito Gulf, nes- 
tling in the curve of the Isthmus of Panama, and forming 
the southwest termination of the Caribbean Sea; the 
Gulf of Honduras, which is almost landlocked by Yucatan, 
Cuba, Jamaica, and the submerged Rosalind Bank on the 
south; and the Haitian Sea, or Old Bahama Channel, as 
the sailing-masters formerly called the long stretch of 
water between the Bahamas and the northern shores of 
the Antilles. 

The American Mediterranean in its entirety may be 
considered a great whirlpool or oceanic river. This is 
caused by the tremendous velocity with which the waters 
of the Atlantic, moved by wind and terrestrial motion, 
pour into the Caribbean Sea through the straits between 
the Windward Islands and the passage between Cuba and 
Santo Domingo. These rush impetuously through the 
Caribbean Sea until they meet the Central American 
coast. Failing to find a westward passage across this 
barrier, they are deflected northward around the western 
end of the Antilles, through the Yucatan Channel, and into 
the Gulf of Mexico, out of which they flow to the east, 
through the Strait of Florida, as the great Gulf Stream. 
The normal westerly movement of this current through 
the Caribbean Sea is estimated at from ten to twenty 
cubic miles of water per day. 

After passing at an accelerated speed through the 
Banks Strait, between Jamaica and the Mosquito Reef, 



10 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

the main stream is joined by an affluent setting from the 
Athmtic through the Windward Channel. Hence north- 
westward an enormous liquid mass passes at a velocity of 
from two to three miles through the Strait of Yucatan, 
from the Caribbean Sea, into the Gulf of Mexico. On 
entering the Gulf this stream ramifies into two branches ; 
one, following the north coast of Cuba, sets toward Florida 
Strait, while the other broadens out in the spacious central 
basin of the Gulf and develops an intricate system of 
counter-cuiTents. Toward the center of this nearly cir- 
cular sea the waters seem to be in a state of equilibrium, 
while at the periphery they move parallel with, but at 
some distance from, the surrounding coasts. South of 
the Mississippi delta the turbid fluid of that great river is 
impelled eastward in a straight line by the blue waters of 
the Gulf Stream, until a junction is effected of the southern 
branches at the western entrance of Florida Strait, through 
which the whole mass rushes like a mighty river into the 
broad Atlantic. At the most narrow part, between Jupiter 
Inlet, on the Florida side, and Memory Rock, in the Baha- 
mas, the stream contracts to a width of fifty-six miles, 
with an extreme depth of four hundred and fifty fathoms. 
In this limited channel the velocity varies from two to six 
miles, the average being about three, and the discharge, 
according to Bartlett, 175,000,000,000 of cubic feet per sec- 
ond, or 15,200,000,000,000,000 per day. Such proportions 
are difficult to grasp, for they represent a mo^dng mass 
equal to about three hundred thousand Mississippi rivers. 
Yet they are still far inferior to the prodigious volume of 
relatively tepid water spread over the surface of the North 
Atlantic and Arctic oceans. In fact, the Gulf Stream, 
issuing from Florida Strait, supplies only a small portion 
of those tepid waters whose influence is felt as far east as 
Nova Zembla. The main supply comes from that portion 
of the equatorial current which is deflected north by the 
barrier of the West India Islands and is joined by the 
Gulf Stream south of the Bermudas. 



THE WEST INDIAN WATERS 11 

Accompanying these currents are the great tropical 
trade-winds. They come from the vast expanse of the 
Atlantic, and blow with a steady velocity across the region 
— a boon to the inhabitants, without which life would be 
unendurable. They are laden with moisture, greater at 
certain seasons than others, which is precipitated against 
the higher protuberances of the land. They chop the 
surface of the Caribbean into a million whitecaps and 
ripples, giving that sea a rough surface quite different 
from the glassy waters of the Grulf, the latter being par- 
tially protected from these winds by the Antilles and the 
Yucatan peninsula. They also create a superb surf against 
the windward side of the tropical islands and mainland. 
Their benign influence spreads even to our own country, 
for they make the south breezes which in summer blow 
across Texas and the Great Plains region. There is no 
more delightful sensation than to feel the cooling touches 
or drink in the exhilarating purity of this moving air- cur- 
rent, especially along the windward or Atlantic side of 
the eastern islands, where it moves with a steady velocity 
stronger than a breeze and milder than a gale. In those 
portions of the islands entirely or partially protected by 
land heights, this wind is broken, and counter- currents 
set in. For instance, on the leeward or Caribbean side of 
the Windward Islands, cut oft from the Atlantic by moun- 
tains rising three thousand feet or more, it is often sultry, 
and the winds, representing eddies in the greater current, 
come only at certain times of day. On the south coast of 
Jamaica, at Kingston, the trade-wind blows only between 
the daylight hours of ten and four. Coming as it does in 
the warm midday, it is a great relief, and is called by the 
inhabitants " the doctor." The relation of these winds to 
the situation of land is an important factor in tropical 
America, and influences the conditions of vegetation, 
health, rainfall, and other phenomena. Its importance 
explains the frequency with which the terms " leeward " and 
" windward " are used in the West Indian nomenclature. 



12 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

The great soiitliward-flowing air-currents from the 
United States, which bring our "blizzards in winter, some- 
times invade the West Indies, and are there known as 
"northers." They extend to Panama and the G-reat 
Antilles, but barely, if at all, reach the Windward Islands. 
The absence of a breeze in the West Indies is ominous. 
Sometimes in these periods of atmospheric quiet the 
barometer falls rapidly, and in a few hours great hurri- 
canes ensue. Few years pass without a disaster at one 
point or another of the normal storm-zone. Nearly all 
the islands have been more or less devastated by these 
visitations. Barbados, Jamaica, St. Thomas, Guadeloupe, 
and Cuba especially have suffered severely. Houses have 
been uprooted like trees, fortresses demolished, ships car- 
ried far inland, plantations strewn with huge blocks, 
islands broken into reefs, and reefs piled up into islands. 
The " great hurricane " of October 10, 1786, is said to have 
" leveled cities, wrecked fleets, and, 

" ' Amid the common woe, 
Reconciled the French aud English foe/ 

who were preparing to cut each other's throats." The 
hurricanes are said to occur only at the end of summer or 
beginning of autumn, when the heated surface of South 
America attracts the cooler and denser air of the northern 
continent. But although most frequent in August, and 
generally prevalent between July and October, such dis- 
turbances have also been recorded at other times. 

These winds and currents from the Atlantic Ocean are 
neither hot in summer nor cold in winter. Their temper- 
ature, ameliorated by the cooler waters, mitigates the 
tropical radiation of summer and warms the northern 
blasts of winter, and is nearly the same the year round. 
The intense extremes of our own country are unknown, 
the thermometer never falling to the cold characteristic of 
nearly all the United States, nor rising to the intense heat 
of our summers. Hence throughout the West Indies the 



THE WEST INDIAN WATERS 13 

temperature is equable, normally between 70° and 80° 
at sea-level, and varying above or below this only in lim- 
ited localities where land barriers cut off the winds, or 
upon the mountain summits. Were it not for the humid- 
ity of the atmosphere, the general temperature of the 
islands would be most enjoyable. 

Another feature of the American Mediterranean is its 
wonderful submarine topography. This is so intimately 
connected with the topography of the land that the rela- 
tions of the latter cannot be understood without a brief 
description of it. Beneath the blue waters is a configura- 
tion which, if it could be seen, would be as picturesque in 
relief as the Alps or Himalayas. Nowhere can such con- 
trasts of relief be found within short distances. Some 
deeps vie in profundity with the altitudes of the near-by 
Andes, so that between the great Brownson Deep of 
twenty-five thousand feet to the summit of Chimborazo 
there is a difference in altitude of nearly ten miles. 

The deepest cavity yet revealed in the Atlantic occurs 
at a point due north of Porto Rico, where the soundings 
record a depth of forty- five hundred fathoms. This is 
known as the Brownson Deep. Some of the depressions, 
like the Bartlett Deep, are narrow troughs, only a few 
miles in width, but hundreds of miles in length, three miles 
in depth, and bordered by steep precipices and escarpments. 
Others, like the Sigsbee Deep, in the Gulf of Mexico,^ are 
great circular basins. There are long ridges beneath the 
waters, which, if elevated, would stand up like islands of 
to-day, and, as has been shown, have an intimate relation 
to the mountains of the land. Again, vast areas are un- 
derlain by shallow banks less than five hundred feet deep 
and often approaching the surface of the water, like that ex- 
tending from Jamaica to Honduras and the Bahama banks. 
The greater islands and the mainlands are bordered in 
places by submerged shelves. 

^ These three deeps, named after naval commanders of to-day, were bestowed 
by Agassiz in commemoration of the part which they took in surveying them. 



14 CUBA AND rOETO EICO 

From a plij'siograpliic point of ^'iew all the islands are 
the upward-projecting tops of a varied configuration which 
has its greatest relief beneath the sea, and which is of no 
less interest to the student of physiography than the great 
irregularities of the land. The islands which form the 
outer rampart of the Caribbean Sea rise from submerged 
ridges. The Antilles, connected by submerged sills, none 
of which exceeds five hundred fathoms, also project upward 
from vast foundations beneath the water. These features 
strongly suggest the fact that the islands as we see them 
to-day were once much more extensive lands. 

The systematic exploration of these depths began in 
1872 on the west side of Florida, under the direction of the 
American officers attached to the Coast Survey. Howell, 
Pourtales, Alexander Agassiz, Bartlett, Sigsbee, Baird, 
and others have studied the bottoms. Not only have care- 
ful soundings been everywhere taken in order to map out 
the relief, but the most sensitive instruments have been 
used to determine the varjang temperature at different 
depths, the course of the upper and lower currents, their 
saline properties, thermometric deviation, and other fea- 
tures. 

Special attention has also been paid to the marine fauna 
down to the darkest recesses of the abyss, and many star- 
tling discoveries have been made, which open marvelous 
vistas into the i^ast evolution of life on the globe. It was 
formerly supposed that the marine fauna was confined to 
the surface or shallow waters, and that the stillness of death 
reigned in the gloomy recesses of the deep. But the dredg- 
ings of the Blake and other exploring vessels in depths 
of over two thousand fathoms have already increased the 
number of animal forms — the crustacean, for instance — 
from twenty to one hundred and fifty species,grouped under 
forty new genera. The deep waters are also found to be 
extremely rich in forms resembling the fossils of former 
geological epochs, and to comprise numerous phosphores- 
cent species. In certain places the marine bed is covered 



THE WEST INDIAN WATERS 15 

with living organisms ; in the channels of the Windward 
Islands, near Gruadeloupe, and the Saintes, and about St. 
Vincent and Barbados, dense forests of pentacrini undu- 
late on |fche bottom like aquatic plants. 

The purely biologic aspect of the sea life is not more 
wonderful than the architectural work that deep-sea ani- 
mals and the millions of mollusks and coral polyps which 
inhabit the shallower waters and banks perform. These 
extract the lime carried in solution by the translucent sea- 
water, and convert it into the shells and corals which are 
so large a part of the beach sands, and the glaring white 
limestones which are conspicuous features in the West 
Indian Islands and the Florida and Yucatan peninsulas. 

The embryonic coral polyp is a free swimmer in the 
sea, which in a second stage of its life-history becomes 
permanently fixed on the banks, and devotes the remainder 
of its life to extracting calcium carbonate from the sea and 
assimilating it into its stony skeleton. It will thrive only 
on shallow banks less than one hundred fathoms deep, and 
where the temperature and clearness of the water are to its 
liking. Once domiciled, it grows upward, and, dying, leaves 
a huge skeleton of stone, upon which other polyps become 
fixed and add their sum to the mass. Grradually the 
growth reaches the surface of the waters, when the waves 
and winds disintegrate it into calcareous sand and soil 
upon which vegetation finds root. Thus the coral islands 
are born. 

The coral-builders are at work over a vast range, which 
is estimated at one fourth of the marine surface of the 
region. To their incessant toil must be largely attributed 
the formation of much of the calcareous plateaus by which 
the Yucatan and Florida straits are contracted on both 
sides, as well as of those rocky ledges which are washed 
by high tides, and are revealed only by sandy dunes, such 
as the Salt Key, or by their fringe of mangroves, like some 
of the Florida Keys, and Anegada with its prolongation, 
the dreaded Horseshoe Eeef, connecting it with the Virgin. 



16 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

Islands. More than half the Cuban seaboard, the various 
groups of the Bahamas, the eastern members of the Lesser 
Antilles, and the Bermudas are largely of coralline origin. 

The muddj^ deposits in the central parts of the Gulf and 
of the Caribbean Sea are derived chiefly from the remains 
of pteropods. In other places the shells of foraminifers 
make up the bottom. It is only around the interior mar- 
gin of the Gulf of Mexico that silicious sands and other 
land debris brought down by rivers constitute the beach 
material with which we are familiar in the United States ; 
and, great as this is in quantity, it seems insignificant in 
comparison with the vast amount of limestone which the 
lower forms of life are creating through organic agencies, 
and which, as we shall see, is the rock-making material of 
all the non-volcanic islands of the West Indies, and one 
of the conspicuous features which give them individuality 
of color, soil, and landscape. 

The American Mediterranean finds a number of outlets 
across the submerged bridge separating its abysses from 
those of the Atlantic. Shipping may glide eastward out 
of the Caribbean into the Atlantic between any of the 
Windward Islands, but to go northward toward the United 
States it must beat through one of four widely separated 
gatewaj^s, which are of great strategic importance. These 
are the Anegada, Mona, and Windward passages and the 
Yucatan Channel. The Anegada Passage is the most east- 
ern, threading its way between the region where the eastern 
Virgin Islands of the Antillean group meet those of the 
Windward chain. Through this passage there went for 
many years all the European ships passing into and out of 
the Caribbean Sea, making St, Thomas the commercial 
capital of the West Indies. The Mona Passage separates 
the island of Porto Rico from that of Santo Domingo, and, 
being out of the lines of travel, is less frequented than the 
others. The Windward Passage, between Santo Domingo 
and Cuba, and its continuation as the Jamaican Channel 
.between the western cape of Santo Domingo and Jamaica, 





%:X%i-'if 












TEAVELEE'S palm, GAEDEN, ST. PIEEEE, 
MAETINIQUE— NOT INDIGENOUS 



THE WEST INDIAN WATEKS 17 

is the most used commercially of all the passages, and of the 
greatest strategic importance, inasmuch as trade from New 
York to the south coast of the islands mentioned, the 
isthmus, and the western coast of northern South America 
must pass through it. The Yucatan Channel separates 
Cuba from the Central American mainland, and, except the 
Strait of Florida, is the only entrance into the Gulf of 
Mexico. 

Of these passages into the American Caribbean the 
island of Cuba guards three of the most important, and 
this fact gives it precedence in strategic importance. 



CHAPTER III 

CLASSIFICATION OF THE WEST INDIAN ISLANDS 

Their niimbei", area, and populations. Antithetic nature of their origin, 
configui'ation, and resources. Classification into groups of similar 
type. The Great Antilles. The Bahamas. The Caribbean chain. 
The South American islands of the Trinidad type. Reefs and keys. 
Their pohtical organization. 

NOT counting the thousands of uninhabited islets con- 
stituting the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, the coral 
reefs bordering Cuba and in the western Caribbean, or 
the five hundred rocky projections of the Grenadines, 
there are forty inhabited islands in the West Indies, varying 
in area from less than five square miles to the size of 
New York State. The area and population of these are 
shown in the following table. 

Table showing Area and Population op the West Indies 

AREA, POPU- 

SQTJARE MILES. LATION. 

Bahamas 5,450 54,000 

Great AntHiLes 

Cuba 45,000 1,631,687 

Santo Domingo 28,249 610,000 

Jamaica 4,218 639,491 

Porto Rico ; 3,550 806,708 

Total Great AntiUes 86,467 3,687,886 

Virgin Island? 

St. Croix 74 18,430 

St. Thomas 23 32,786 

St. John 21 950 

18 



CLASSIFICATION OF THE WEST INDIAN ISLANDS 19 

AREA, POPU- 

SQUARE MILES. LATION. 

Virgin Islands — Continued 

Anegada 20 

Tortola 58 5,000 

Virgin Gorda 176 



Total Virgin Islands 372 57,166 

Caeibbee Islands (Outer Chain) 

Sombrero 

AnguiUa 35 3,699 

St. Martin 38 3,724 

St. Bartholomew 5 2,650 

Barbuda 62 639 

Antigua 108 36,819 

Desirade 10 1,400 

Maria Gralante 65 13,850 



Total Outer Chain 323 62,781 

Caribbee Islands (Inner Chain) 

Santa Cruz 74 18,430 

Saba 5 2,065 

St. Eustatius 8 1,613 

' St. Christopher 65 30,867 

Nevis 70 13,087 

Montserrat 32 11,762 

"^ftraSeloirpe and dependencies 600 167,000" 

Dominica 290 26,841 

Martinique J2L_ ^^'^^^ 

St. Lucia "245 "~"^46,'67l" 

St. Vincent 122 41,054 

Grenadines } .^20 60,367 

Grenada > 

Total Inner Chain 2,031 607,449 

Total Caribbee Islands 2,354 670,230 

Barbados 166 189,000 

South American Islands 

Tobago 114 20,463 

Trinidad 1,754 _248j804 

Buen Ayre 95 4,399" 

Cura9ao 210 28,187 

Margarita and small islands 470 40,000 

Total South American Islands 2,643 341,853 



20 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

These islands, far from being alike in natural features 
and economic possibilities, present great extremes. Some 
are low, flat rocks barely peeping above the sea; others 
gigantic peaks rising straight to the clouds, which perpet- 
ually envelop their summits; others are combinations of 
flat and rugose types. Some present every feature of relief 
configuration that can be found within a continental area 
—mountains, plains, valleys, lakes; some are made up 
entirely of glaring white coral sand or reef rock; others 
are entirely composed of black volcanic rock, and still 
others are a combination of many kinds of rocks. Many 
are as arid as a Western desert and void of running 
streams, and others have a most fertile soil, cut by a hun- 
dred picturesque streams of living water, and bathed in 
perpetual mist and daily rainfall. Some are bordered only 
with the fringing, salt-water plants or covered with thorny, 
coriaceous vegetation; others are a tangled mass of 
palms, ferns, and thousands of delicate, moisture-loving 
plants which overwhelm the beholder with their luxuriance 
and verdancy of color. Some are without human habi- 
tants; others are among the most densely populated 
portions of the world. 

The differences in natural character between groups of 
islands have an important bearing upon habitation and eco- 
nomic possibilities. Each group is so different from the 
others that, were they not in close geographic proximity, 
they would in no manner be considered related. The 
diverse configuration produces climatic differences, and 
each kind of rock weathers into its peculiar soil. For ex- 
ample, the Bahamas are not adapted to growing sugar, or 
the Caribbee Islands to the raising of cattle; food-fish 
are not abundant off the Great "Antilles, owing to the steep 
marine escarpments, while they thrive in the Bahamas and 
on the leeward side of the Caribbee Islands ; some of these 
islands, through possibilities of a diversified agriculture 
and hygienic condition, are adapted to higher civilization. 



CLASSIFICATION OF THE WEST INDIAN ISLANDS 21 

and others, either through sterility or ruggedness of relief, 
are capable of supporting only inferior races. 

These various islands are classifiable, by geographic 
position, geological composition, and economic possibili- 
ties, into several great groups, the principal of which 
are the Bahamas, the Antilles, the Windward or Caribbee 
Islands, the Trinidad-Tobago group, and the keys or coral 
reefs. 

Of these the Great Antilles are by far the most fertile, 
diversified, and habitable, presenting greater extremes of 
hypsometric, climatic, and hydrographic features than all 
the others. Their configuration and geological features 
are of a diversified type, suggestive of continental rather 
than insular conditions, while the other groups of West 
Indian Islands are monotypic in character. Several of the 
Great Antilles exceed in area all the other groups. These, 
extending for twelve hundred miles in an east-and-west 
line, between longitudes 65° and 85° W., are the large 
islands of Porto Eico, Santo Domingo, Cuba, and Jamaica. 
The Virgin archipelago, extending eastward from Porto 
Rico to the Anegada Passage, — a group which might be con- 
fused with the Caribbean chain, — is Antillean in its natu- 
ral features. These include Crab, Culebra, Culebrita, St. 
Thomas, St. John, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, and Anegada, 
the largest of which is Crab Island, with an area of less 
than twenty-five square miles. 

The Great Antilles and the shallow passages between 
them constitute a barrier separating the Gulf and Carib- 
bean basins, and are practically within the area of the 
American Mediterranean, while the Bahamas and Lesser 
Antilles make its outer rim. 

The eastern islands are composed of the Bahamas and 
Lesser Antilles, which in natural features differ radically 
from each other. The Bahamas, to the north of the Great 
Antilles, rise from the shallow, submerged platform of the 
great submarine shelf which borders the North American 



22 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

coutinent from Massachusetts to the eastern end of the 
Great Antilles. They are all monotypic, consisting of 
low heaps of calcareous shells and coral sand, which have 
been piled up above a submerged platform by wind and 
wave. 

According to Bacot, the Bahamas, excluding the Caicos 
and Turks groups, comprise G90 islands and islets and 
2387 rocks or separate reefs, mth a total area of 5600 
square miles. Including the Caicos and Turks, which 
belong to the group, the actual number can scarcely be 
less than 3200, of which only 31 were inhabited in 1890, 
with a total population of 54,000. They stretch northwest 
and southeast between Florida and Santo Domingo for a 
distance of 780 miles. They rise from a shallow subma- 
rine platform separated from Santo Domingo and Cuba 
by the Old Bahama Channel, twelve thousand feet deep. 
This platform may represent the planed-down summit of a 
submarine ridge akin to the Antillean uplifts. Unlike the 
Antilles, the Bahamas are of low relief, often barely pro- 
jecting their heads above the water, and their wind-blown 
sand-dunes nowhere rise to an altitude greater than one 
hundred feet. 

The Caribbee Islands, which close the eastern gate of 
the Caribbean, are as different from the Bahamas as are 
the Bahamas from the Great Antilles, although they too 
are the projecting tip of a submerged ridge which has its 
greater extent beneath the water. They extend in a gentle 
curve from the Anegada Passage of Porto Rico southward 
to Trinidad, and include twenty-one islands besides the 
Grenadines. The latter include several hundred distinct 
islets, often merely heads of rock rising above the sea, and 
extending sixty miles in the general axis of the chain, 
between St. Vincent and Grenada. Barbados, about one 
hundred miles east of the circle, and Aves or Bird Island, 
about two hundred miles west, are included by some 
writers in the Caribbean chain, but we shall not so con- 
sider them. 



CLASSIFICATION OF THE WEST INDIAN ISLANDS 23 

The Caribbean chain in the northern half of its extent 
consists of a double row of islands. The inner circle, 
which more completely spans the distance between the 
Great Antilles and South America, is the main chain, and 
the outer circle is made up of secondary and dependent 
features. 

Those of the main chain, including the islands of Saba, 
St. Eustatius, St. Christopher, Nevis, Montserrat, Gruad- 
eloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Gren- 
adines, Grenada, are volcanic heaps, of weird insular 
forms, rising precipitously above the sea, attaining a height 
of 4450 feet in Martinique, clad to the very top in vege- 
tation, and usually clouded in mist. They are composed 
entirely of old volcanic material, and from the richness 
of their vegetation and the blackness of their rock present 
a dark and restful landscape even under the tropical sun. 
The outer circlet of islands, including Sombrero, AnguiUa, 
St. Martin, St. Bartholomew, Barbuda, Antigua, Desirade, 
and Maria Galante, with the exception of Antigua, which 
is partially volcanic, are islets of white limestone and coral- 
reef rock, rising nowhere over two hundred feet above 
the sea, and resembling in color the Bahamas. They rise 
from a submerged slope extending oceanward from the 
inner chain. 

The fourth type of tropical American islands borders 
the north coast of South America, and includes the islands 
of Tobago, Trinidad, Margarita, Blanca, Las Eoques, 
Buen Ayre, Curasao, and other small islands. These were 
once portions of the South American continent, and have 
been severed from the mother-land by the corrosive effects 
of the equatorial currents which here break into the Carib- 
bean. Barbados perhaps is related to the latter group, but 
it has a peculiar construction which justifies placing it in 
a class by itself. In remote geologic ages it was probably 
the end of a peninsula projecting from the South Ameri- 
can mainland. 

The fifth and last class of West Indies consists of coral 



24 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

reefs whicli have been slightly elevated above the sea. 
These occur in many places, either singly or in clusters^ 
and by location are not classifiable into a geographic 
group, although they are most numerous in the Honduras 
Sea, in the western part of the Caribbean. 

Islands of this and kindred character— in which, for pres- 
ent purposes, may be included mangrove islets and other 
lands not strictly reef rock, but dependent upon shallow 
banks for a foundation— border the end of Florida, Cuba, 
and the Windward side of the Caribbee Islands. 

In addition to islands Avliich can thus be grouped, there 
are many standing alone, like Barbados, Aves, Navassa^ 
and Swan Island, which seem for the present to defy any 
system of classification. There are also many islands and 
islets off the Central American coast, which may mostly be 
considered to be continental, so far as their natural rela- 
tions are concerned. 

Only one of the smaller solitary islets of the American 
Mediterranean is volcanic. This is the Old Providence 
group, in latitude 13° N., standing in the western Carib- 
bean, about one hundred and fifty miles off the coast of 
Nicaragua. 

In general it may be stated that of these groups the 
Great Antilles and South American islands are continental 
in the diversity of their configuration, the Bahamas and 
keys and solitary islets are composed of organic skeletal 
debris, and the Caribbee Islands are of old A^olcanic 
origin. 

Perhaps no equal area of the world is distributed among 
the flags of so many nations. Only one island, Santo 
Domingo, possesses free and independent governments. 
The remainder are the property of many nationalities. 
The political organizations of the whole are as follows: 
independent : Santo Domingo, composed of two republics ; 
Spanish islands : Cuba, Isle of Pines, Porto Rico, Vieques, 
Mona, Culebra; British islands: Bermudas, Bahamas, 
Jamaica, Turks, St. Christopher, Nevis, Antigua, Dominica, 




coco ANUT -PALMS, PLUMB POINT LIGHTHOUSE, JAMAICA 




BANIAN-TEEE, BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS 



CLASSIFICATION OF THE WEST INDIAN ISLANDS 25 

St. Vincent, Grenada and Grenadines, Barbados, Virgin 
Islands, Montserrat, St. Lucia ; French islands : St. Bar- 
tholomew, Guadeloupe, Martinique; Dutch islands: St. 
Eustatius, Saba, Curasao, Buen Ayre, Aruba ; French and 
Dutch : St. Martin ; Danish islands : St. Thomas, St. John, 
Santa Cruz. 

Two islands are divided in government. Santo Domingo 
consists of two independent republics, Haiti and Santo Do- 
mingo. Seventeen square miles of the little island of St. 
Martin belong to Holland, and twenty-one square miles 
to France. Of the Spanish islands, Cuba is a dependent 
colony without local self-government ; Porto Eico was an 
integral part of Spain, participating in the rights of the 
mother-country, until recently, when, in 1897, it was 
granted a system of autonomy. 

The French islands of Maria Galante, Desirade, the 
Siantes, and part of St. Martin, with Guadeloupe, form an 
administrative colony, having a representative governor 
from France, aided by local representative assistants. 
Martinique is similarly organized. 

The administration of the British islands is divided 
among several distinct and colonial governments, inde- 
pendent of one another, each with local representative 
assemblies and a governor and colonial secretary appointed 
by the crown. The Bahamas constitute one of these, the 
seat of administration being located at Nassau. Jamaica, 
with Turks Island and the Caicos and Cayman Islands 
attached for administrative purposes, is another. 

St. Christopher, Kevis, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, 
Eedonda, Dominica, and the British Virgin Islands con- 
stitute the English Leeward Island administrative group, 
with the seat of government at St. John, Antigua. St. 
Lucia, which is French in its language, manners, and re- 
ligion, is a British dependency, which was until recently 
governed as a conquered possession by a quasi-military 
governor with the aid of a council. It is, however, in some 
measure dependent upon the governor of Barbados. St. 



26 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

Vincent, Grenada, and the Grenadines constitute the Carib- 
bee Island government, with a capital at Kingstown, St. 
Vincent. Trinidad, with Tobago, constitutes another sep- 
arate colony, and Barbados still another. In all there are 
six British colonial groups in the West Indies, without 
any confederated relations to one another. 

The widely separated Dutch islands are all parts of the 
colony of Curag:ao, with its seat of government on the 
island of that name. The administration is composed of 
a governor and three other colonial officers nominated by 
the crown, and an elective colonial council. 

The islands of St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas con- 
stitute a crown colony of Denmark. The island of Na- 
vassa, between Haiti and Jamaica, is claimed by its pro- 
prietors to belong to the United States, but the latter gov- 
ernment has not acknowledged any proprietary right in it. 

Many of the islets and reefs, such as Aves, Roncador, 
etc., are beyond the pale of any government. This may 
be both on account of their general worthlessness to civili- 
zation, and because ownership would require expensive 
responsibility, such as placing lights for the protection 
of navigation. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE GEEAT ANTILLES 

Their individuality. Distinctness of physical characters from those of the 
United States. Continental diversity of their configuration as com- 
pared with the monotypic character of the other islands. The Antil- 
lean mountain system. Variety of resources. Total population. 
Diversity of social conditions presented in the four chief islands. 

IN their climate and vegetation, as in their topographic 
features and geologic history, the Great Antilles have 
no affinities with conditions with which we are familiar in 
the United States. Their whole aspect is tropical, yet they 
possess so many unique individual features, differing from 
those of other tropical lands, that they belong in a class 
entirely by themselves. The causes of this individuality 
are involved in a peculiar and complicated geologic his- 
tory, which can be dwelt upon here only to the extent of 
stating that it has produced certain peculiarities of con- 
figuration and given origin to formations which weather 
into soils of unusual productiveness. 

Collectively the Great Antilles consist of a disconnected 
chain of mountains (the Antillean system) protruding 
above the sea and having an east-west trend directly 
transverse to that of the axial continental Cordilleras. 
The highest peaks of this system in Haiti, Cuba, and 
Jamaica are 11,000, 8000, and 7000 feet respectively. 
This mountain system, as a whole, is one of the most 
marvelous works of earthly architecture. Its peculiar 
origin and history are more fully explained in a later 

27 



28 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

chapter of this book. Its complicated geologic history, 
and the fact that a large portion of its extent is now sub- 
merged beneath the ocean, are not the least interesting of 
its many features. 

The Antillean uplift, as a whole, may be compared to 
an inverted, elongated canoe, the highest and central part 
of which is in the region adjacent to the Windward Pas- 
sage. Thus it is that the higher peaks occur in Haiti, 
eastern Cuba, and eastern Jamaica, while the arching 
crest-line descends toward the western part of the two 
latter islands, and on the east toward Porto Rico, where 
the highest summit is only 3680 feet, finally disappearing 
as the Virgin Islands, where, in St. Thomas, the summit 
is 1560 feet. 

The higher mountains are composed of non-calcareous 
clay and conglomerate, largely the debris of unknown 
lands of iDre-Tertiary time, which, with the exception of a 
few restricted points, were buried, during a profound sub- 
sidence in early Tertiary time, beneath a vast accumulation 
of calcareous oceanic sediments. The latter now compose 
the white limestones which constitute the chief formations 
of the islands, and which were, together with the preced- 
ing formations, elevated into their present position at the 
close of the Tertiary period. The mountains are irregu- 
larly flanked below 2000 feet by horizontal benches, or 
terraces, of this limestone, which are the result of regional 
elevations and base-leveling after the last period of moun- 
tain-making. There are also intrusions of old igneous 
rocks, — granitoid, porphyritic, and basaltic, — but these are 
of a more ancient character than the volcanic rocks of the 
Windward chain, and nowhere are there craters or other 
traces of recent volcanic vents. The mountains above 
2000 feet, composed'of the older non-calcareous formations, 
and the lower plains and bordering plateaus of limestone, 
result in producing the two distinct and contrasting types 
of calcareous and non-calcareous soils throughout the 
Great Antilles. 



THE GEEAT ANTILLES 29 

Although a more or less continuous chain of sierras, 
which may be called the mother range, extends in an 
axial line from St. Thomas through Porto Eico, Santo 
Domingo, the northwest cape of Haiti, the Sierra Maestra 
range of Cuba, and the submerged Misterosa Eidge of the 
Caribbean, for a distance of a thousand miles, the Antillean 
Mountains are not continuous crests like our Appalachians, 
but are composed of many short overlapping ranges, pre- 
senting at first sight a serrated appearance similar to the 
Alps and Pyrenees, with this difference, that they are not 
covered with snow. 

The island of Santo Domingo is the center and cul- 
mination of the entire Antillean uplift. The highest of its 
peaks, Monte Tina, just south of the center of the island, 
reaches the respectable altitude of nearly 12,000 feet. The 
most continuous Santo Domingoan range, the Sierra de 
Cibao, extends in an east-and-west direction through the 
center of the republic, and is flanked on the north and south 
coasts by several short but lofty lateral ranges. This 
sierra has a south-southeast and north-northwest trend, and 
culminates in the Pico del Yaqui, 9500 feet high, while 
many other peaks attain altitudes of 7350 feet. Near the 
western extremity of this range rises the colossal Nalgo de 
Maco, whose lofty head, 7000 to 8000 feet, overtops all 
the mountains in its vicinity. 

In the republic of Haiti the occidental continuation of 
the Antillean uplifts begins to divide into a number of 
spreading branches pointing toward the Central American 
coast. This differentiation is first indicated in the two 
long peninsulas of Haiti, the northern of which extends 
toward Cuba and the southern toward Jamaica. The 
northern branch is the continuation of the main or axial 
ranges of the general system, and is represented in Cuba 
by the lofty summits of Sierra Maestra, bordering the 
Santiago coast of the east end of the island. This moun- 
tainous crest apparently ceases at Cape Cruz, but in 
reality it continues westward for eight degrees of longi- 



30 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

tude, or over five hundred miles, as the Misterosa Bank 
a wonderful suljmarine mountain ridge, which, although 
barely reaching the surface of the water, precipitously 
rises 18,000 feet above the bottom of the sea. 

The remainder and main body of Cuba, lying north of 
the Sierra Maestra, is the most northern of the three 
western branches of the Antilles, and this is of quite 
different structure from the others. 

The southern of the Haitian peninsulas stretches out 
toward Jamaica, but ends in a submarine bank just north- 
east of that island. Still south of this the Blue Mountains 
of Jamaica, rising to 7325 feet, trend in a north-of-west 
direction, and make the most southern of the land ranges of 
the Great Antillean uplift. Vast areas of the Pedro, Rosa- 
lind, and Roncador banks, in the western Caribbean, repre- 
sent still other groups. 

Few people realize the intense rugosity of these moun- 
tains. When considered relatively to the plain from which 
they rise, their altitudes are enormous, and they exceed 
any heights of Europe or North America, and, if their 
submerged sIojdcs be added, they are among the most lofty 
of the world. The total altitude above the sea of the Rocky 
Mountains is greater, but their true altitudes are usually 
overstated by nearly one half, for they rise from a plain 
which has already attained an altitude of 5000 to 7000 
feet, while the Antillean ranges rise straight from the sea. 
Furthermore, the slopes of the Antillean Mountains con- 
tinue downward below the watery horizon for enormous 
depths. The slopes of Porto Rico, for instance, not quite 
4000 feet of which are exposed above the sea, descend on 
the northern side of that island to a depth of 24,000 feet, 
giving a total declivity of more than five miles. In order 
properly to appreciate the height of the Santo Domingo 
mountains we must also add to the 11,000 feet projecting 
above the sea 12,000 feet of precipitous submarine slopes 
on the north and 18,000 feet on the south. The vertical 
slope of the Sierra Maestra, 8000 feet of which are exposed 
above the sea, continues downward for 18,000 feet beneath 



THE GKEAT ANTILLES 31 

the waters lying between Cuba and Jamaica, giving a total 
relief of 26,000 feet. In fact, the configuration of these 
ranges is the most precipitous of the known world, exceed- 
ing that of the Himalayas, which would be comparable with 
them were their bases surrounded by oceanic waters to a 
depth of three to five miles. 

Another peculiarity of these mountains is the fact that 
they are not made up of untillable and barren rocks, like 
most other great ranges of the world, but are largely com- 
posed of unconsolidated clays and pebble, which yield a 
wealth of vegetal products to their very summits. These 
higher summits, though differing in origin, are similar in 
composition to the mantle of glacial soils which constitutes 
the tillable lands of the northern United States. They are 
the fruit- and coffee-lands of unlimited possibilities. 

The Antilles are not exclusively mountainous. There 
are numerous valleys, plains, and plateaus, often of wide 
extent and great fertility, which will be further mentioned 
in our descriptions of the various islands. As a rule, they 
are densely wooded and copiously watered to the very 
summits of the mountains. Many of the streams are riv- 
ers of great beauty, and in a few instances are navigable 
for short distances. Some of these, like the Cauto and 
Sagua of Cuba, and the Yaqui, Neyba, and Artibonite of 
Santo Domingo, are of great length and volume. 

The seaboard of the Antilles is in some respects quite 
different from that of the remainder of the islands, being 
characterized, in general, by an abundance of good harbors, 
affording excellent anchorage, which are lacking in many 
of the smaller islands. The character of the coast is vari- 
able. Large stretches are composed of a low shelf of ele- 
vated reef rock, often as hard as adamant, and standing 
less than twenty feet above the sea, known as sehorucco, 
which extends back a few yards against a rugged back- 
coast border; in other places the land border consists of 
high bluffs of limestone, with or without a few feet of 
shelving beach at its base. Near the Windward Passage 
there is a series of these bluffs rising 600 feet in terrace- 



32 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

like arrangement. Again, there are small stretches of 
swamp-land, and alluvial plains at the mouths of rivers. 

The resources of the Antilles are also more varied than 
those of the other islands, for they not only produce the 
chief staple, sugar, in great quantities, but yield abundant 
crops of coffee, cocoa, exportable fruits, cattle, and food- 
stuffs. 

The only important metallic mineral resources of the 
West Indies are found in the vicinity of the Antillean 
chain. These are iron, manganese, gold, and copper. 

The total population of the Great Antilles is nearly 
3,700,000 people, threefold that of all the other West 
Indian Islands combined. This population is diverse in 
race and color, and has distinct local peculiarities, which 
will be treated elsewhere. Yet the people of the four chief 
AntiUean Islands have no common traits, and exhibit re- 
markable differences in government and civilization. It 
is strange to see lands belonging to the same geographic 
group and equally endowed by nature develop every 
antithesis of social and industrial life, and to observe the 
influence of former ownership and present government 
upon the races which have been transplanted there. In 
Jamaica, under the beneficent rule of the English govern- 
ment, the negro is provided with the implements and im- 
provements of the highest civilization, and imitates in his 
domestic life the rural customs of Great Britain. In Santo 
Domingo a free mulatto has developed an entirely differ- 
ent character. In Haiti, as black in civilization as in the 
color of its inhabitants, is portrayed the degradation which 
a savage race may retain, without civilizing influences, al- 
though centuries have lapsed since it was imported across 
the sea. In Cuba may be seen a white civilization which 
has developed in place of a most corrupt and despotic colo- 
nial administration ; while Porto Eico shows how closely a 
transplanted European people, trained in the political and 
social conditions of the mother-country, may repeat the 
social status of the latter. 



CHAPTER V 

THE ISLAND OF CUBA 

Physical features. Situation, commercial and strategic position. Out- 
lines, dimensions, area. The configuration. The coast and Uttoral. 
Abundance of harbors. The bordering keys. The interior mountain 
ranges. The plains of Cuba. The cucMllas of the east. The terraces 
of Gruantanamo. Valleys and depressions. Elvers, lakes, and swamps. 
Caves and scenic features. 

CUBA, the most western and largest of the four Great 
Antilles, is the fairest, most fertile, and most diver- 
sified of the tropical islands; its economic development 
during four centuries of European occupation has fully 
justified the title, " The Pearl of the Antilles," first given 
to it by Columbus, although its capital city may no longer 
uphold the motto of its coat of arms, "The Key of the 
New World." It has but a small proportion of untillable 
declivities and rocky areas, such as are found in New 
England; no barren fields of volcanic lava, such as occur 
in the Central American lands; no arid areas, like those 
which make up so large a proportion of Mexico and the 
western half of the United States ; no stretches of sterile, 
sandy lands, like those of Florida and other coastal South- 
ern States. Its proportion of swamp-lands is less than 
that of the average American seaboard State. The whole 
island is covered with rich soils,— fertile, calcareous loams, 
—which, under constant humidity, yield in abundance 
every form of useful vegetation of the tropical and tem- 
perate climes. The configuration and geological forma- 

3 33 



34 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

tions are diversified; there is a variety of economic 
resources, both agricultural and mineral, convenient to 
an extensive littoral, with numerous harbors affording 
excellent anchorage. 

Its essential geographic features are as follows: Area,, 
including 1300 adjacent keys, 45,000 square miles,— slightly 
less than that of the State of New York,— of which ten 
per cent, is cultivated, four per cent, foi-est-land, and the 
remainder, for the most jDart, unreclaimed wilderness. 
Its length is nearly seven times that of Long Island, and 
stretches between the longitudes of New York and Cin- 
cinnati—a distance of 720 miles. Its width is every- 
where less than 100 miles. As regards diversity of relief, 
its eastern end is mountainous, with summits stand- 
ing high above the adjacent sea; its middle portion is 
wide, consisting of gently sloping plains, which form a 
continuous field of sugar-cane, weU drained, high above 
the sea, and broken here and there by low, forest-clad 
hiUs; and its western third is a picturesque region of 
mountains, with fertile slopes and valleys, of different 
structure and less altitude than those of the east. It is in 
this last district only that the aromatic tobaccos which 
have made the island famous are grown. Over the whole 
is a mantle of tender vegetation, rich in every hue that a 
flora of more than three thousand species can give, and 
kept green by mists and gentle rains. Indenting the rock- 
bound coasts are a hundred pouch-shaped harbors, such 
as are but rarely found in the other islands and shores 
of the American Mediterranean, and resembling St. Lucia, 
for which England gave up the rich islands of Martinique 
and Guadeloupe, under the treaty of Paris. 

In area, in natural resources, ■ in the number and char- 
acter of its inhabitants, in strategic position as regards 
proximity to the American and Mexican seaboards, Cuba 
is by far the most important of the Great Antilles. It is 
very near the center of the great American Mediterranean, 
separating the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea, and 



THE ISLAND OF CUBA 35 

in close proximity to our Southern seaboard, the coast of 
Mexico, the Bahamas, Haiti, Jamaica, Central America, 
the isthmus, and the coast of South America. 

The island commands three important maritime gate- 
ways: the Strait of Florida, leading from the Atlantic 
Ocean into the Gulf of Mexico; the Windward Passage, 
leading from the Atlantic into the Caribbean Sea ; and the 
Yucatan Channel, connecting the Caribbean Sea and the 
Grulf. The first and last of these completely command 
the Grulf of Mexico. It is less than 96^ miles from Key 
West to the north coast of Cuba. From the east end of 
the island Haiti and Jamaica are visible, 54 and 85 miles 
distant respectively. From the western cape (San Anto- 
nio) to Yucatan the distance is 130 miles. 

The outline of the island, commonly compared by the 
Spaniards to a bird's tongue, also resembles a great ham- 
mer-headed shark, the head of which forms the straight, 
south coast of the east end of the island, from which the 
sinuous body extends westward. This analogy is made 
still more striking by two long, finlike strings of keys, or 
islets, which extend backward along the opposite coasts, 
parallel to the main body of the island. 

The longer axis of the island extends from the seventy- 
fourth to the eighty-fifth meridian, while its latitude, 
between 19° 40' and 23° 33' N., embraces nearly four de- 
grees. Its length, following an axial line drawn through 
its center from Cape Maysi to Cape San Antonio, is 730 
miles. Its width varies from 90 miles in the east to less 
than 20 miles in the longitude of Havana. Cape Maysi, on 
the east, lies directly south of New York, and Cape San 
Antonio, on the west, is situated nearly south of Cin- 
cinnati. 

At the outset the reader should dispossess his mind of 
any preconceived idea that the island of Cuba is in any 
sense a physical unit. On the contrary, it presents a 
diversity of topographic, climatic, and cultural features, 
which, as distributed, divide the island into at least three 



36 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

distinct natural provinces, for convenience termed the 
eastern, central, and western regions. 

No accurate trigonometric surveys have been made of 
the island and its bordering islets, including 570 keys 
adjacent to the north coast and 730 to the south, or of the 
Isle of Pines, a large and important dependency. Nearly 
all existing geographic data have been based upon a large 
map compiled by Pichardo, engraved in Barcelona, which 
was a compilation of local surveys of various and doubtful 
degrees of accuracy. The area of the main island has been 
estimated at from 40,000 to 43,000 square miles, that of 
the Isle of Pines at 1214, and that of all the keys combined 
at 1350. Some of the larger keys, like Romano, on the 
north side, are 140 square miles in extent. Reclus esti- 
mates the total at 45,883 square miles, an area nearly one 
fourth the size of Spain. 

The distinct types of relief include regions of high 
mountains, low hills, dissected plateaus, level plains, inter- 
montane valleys, and coastal swamps. With the exception 
of a strip of the south- central coast, the island, as a whole, 
stands well above the sea, is thoroughly drained, and pre- 
sents a rugged aspect when viewed from the sea. About 
one fourth the total area is mountainous, three fifths are 
rolling plain, valleys, and gentle arable slopes, and the re- 
mainder is swampy. 

The coast of Cuba is very extensive, measuring, without 
its meanderings, nearly 2000 miles. On Pichardo's map 
the coast-line, with all its embayments and including the 
islets, is over 6800 miles. On all sides, except the south- 
central and where indented by pouch-like harbors, the 
coast is abrupt, and stands above the sea as if the waters 
of the latter were rapidly planing away what had once been 
a more extensive land. In many places the immediate 
coast-line is a narrow bench of elevated reef rock, or 
seboniccOj a few yards wide and standing about fifteen 
feet above the sea, between the higher bluffs and the 
water. The island border on the north presents a low cliff 



THE ISLAND OF CUBA 37 

topography, with a horizontal sky-line from Matanzas 
westward, gradually decreasing from five hundred feet at 
Matanzas to one hundred feet on the west. The coast of 
the east end is abrupt and rugged, presenting both on the 
north and south sides a series of remarkable terraces, ris- 
ing in stair- like arrangement to six hundred feet or more, 
representing successive pauses or stages in the elevation 
of the island above the sea, and constituting most striking 
scenic features. West of Guantanamo to Cape Cruz the 
precipitous Sierra Maestra rises immediately behind and 
above these terraces. The south coast from Cape Cruz to 
Cape San Antonio, with the exception of a brief stretch 
between Trinidad and Cienfuegos, is generally low and 
marshy. 

The littoral of the mainland is indented by numerous 
landlocked harbors of peculiar configuration, which are 
especially adapted for commerce and refuge. These are 
described under transportation and communication. 

The keys adjacent to the middle third of the island, on 
both the north and south sides (the famous Jardines of 
Columbus), are mostly small coral or mangrove islets which 
have grown up from shallow, submerged platforms sur- 
rounding those parts of the island ; in certain places they 
form barriers to the mainland. They are usually unin- 
habited, owing to the scarcity of potable waters. They 
constitute a formidable obstacle to navigation, except 
when guided by skilful pilotage, but, on the other hand, 
present many sheltered expanses within the outer line of 
breakers. 

About one half the Cuban coast is bordered by these 
keys, which are largely old reef rock, the creations of the 
same coral-builders that may now be seen through the 
transparent waters still at work on the modern shallows, 
decking the rocks and sands with their graceful and many- 
colored tufts of animal foliage. On the north coast some 
of the keys are large enough to form extensive islets, 
uninhabited, except by fishermen in a few places where 



38 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

fresh water lodges in depressions, or wells np through the 
porous rocks. Thus the Cayos del Sabinal, Guajaba, 
Eomano, and Cocos, separated by narrow channels, con- 
stitute almost a continuous outlying island 120 miles in 
length. Cayo Romano, the largest of these elevated reefs, 
has an estimated area of 140 square miles, and its flatness 
is relieved by three hills. 

The chain of keys on the north side from the Sabinal to 
the Cocos reefs is so regular and pierced by such narrow 
channels that it might be regarded as a peninsula running 
parallel with the mainland; but farther west it is con- 
tinued by a series of smaller reefs which are breached by 
wider openings and lie close to the shore. Including the 
western reefs and keys, this outer shore-line has a total 
length of over 300 miles. West of Havana other fringing 
reefs extend for about 140 miles from Bahia Honda to 
Cape San Antonio. 

On the south side of Cuba the reefs and islets are even 
more numerous than on the north, but they are far less 
regularly disposed, and are not parallel with the shore. 
They extend a great distance from the land wherever the 
relatively smooth water is not exposed to the scouring 
action of marine currents. These reefs are somewhat rare 
on the part of the coast adjacent to the Windward and 
Yucatan passages. Manzanilla Bay, however, is more 
than half covered with reefs, which are continued west- 
ward by the so-called Cayos de las Doce Leguas, or Twelve- 
League Keys. Still westward, the Isle of Pines is connected 
with a perfect labyrinth of reefs and islets, the best of 
which are known as the Jardinillos and Jardines, named 
from the verdure-clad islets strewn like gardens amid the 
blue waters. In many of these, springs of pure water are 
said to bubble up from the deep. 

The interior of Cuba has not been sufficiently surveyed 
to make it possible accurately to map all the details of soil 
or the relief of the surface, especially of the eastern half 
of the island. The various commissions named in times 



THH ISLAND OF CUBA 39 

past by the Captains-General to make reconnaissances 
avow in their reports that the lack of habitation in the 
greater part of the territory, the impenetrability of the 
forests, the insurmountable Cordilleras, and the scarcity 
of means and time have prevented them from carrying 
out successfully the mapping of the diverse ramifications 
of the mountains, the tracing out of their salients and 
valleys, and the determination of their extent, altitude, 
and geologic structure. It seems that their observations 
did not extend east of the seventieth meridian, where 
the most interesting part of the island, from a scientific 
point of view, is found. Furthermore, the results of 
such investigations as were made were but imperfectly 
published in fragments. 

In a previous chapter we have set forth the elementary 
arrangement of the Antillean Mountains, of which those 
of Cuba are a part. The higher eminences are true moun- 
tains of deformation, composed of disturbed sedimentary 
rocks with igneous intrusions. The mountains of this 
class do not constitute a continuous axial backbone to the 
island, as popularly supposed, but, so far as they can be 
classified at all, occur in three distinct and independent 
groups, known as the eastern, western, and central, re- 
spectively, the trends of which overlap one another en 
echelon. 

The highest of the well-defined ranges is the narrow, 
precipitous Sierra Maestra, which dominates the straight 
east-and-west coast of Santiago de Cuba. This range 
extends through two and one half degrees of longitude, 
from Guantanamo to Cape Cruz, and constitutes an inde- 
pendent feature, topographically different from the other 
mountains of Cuba. Geographically it belongs in the 
same class with the higher summits of Haiti, collectively 
making the master range of the Great Antilles. This 
range is very precipitous and closely hugs the coast-line. 
Its crests culminate in the Pico del Turquino, which rises 
very abruptly from the sea to a height estimated to be 8600 



40 CUBA AND PORTO KICO 

feet in altitude. The Cerro del Oro, 3300 feet high, is an- 
other conspicuous peak in the ridge, seen about half-way 
between Santiago and Cape Cruz. La Gran Piedra, in this 
range, near Santiago, is 5200 feet high. The summit of 
this peak, from which it takes its name, is a gigantic block 
of conglomerate, which seems ready to topple down. East 
of Santiago the range is called the Sierra del Cobre. From 
base to summit these mountains are densely wooded, the 
vegetation ranging from coarse cactaceous chaparral on 
the lower and drier slopes to beautiful, almost indescriba- 
ble, forests of tree-ferns in the higher and moister alti- 
tudes. These mountains are composed of non-calcareous 
conglomerates and shales of Mesozoic and Eocene age, 
intruded by great masses of dark-colored, mid- Tertiary, 
igneous rocks, the debris of which makes a clay and gravel 
soil, — one of the two contrasting types which constitute 
the greatest wealth of the island,— the whole incrusted on 
the coastward side to a height of 2000 feet or more by 
white limestones. The lower slopes are terraced after the 
manner of all the east end of Cuba, as previously described. 
The Sierra Maestra crest closely parallels the adjacent sea- 
coast, toward which its slopes descend precipitously. In- 
land, toward the north, the slope is gentler, the eroded 
lateral i:idges leading gradually down to the valley of the 
Cauto, the deep east-and-west indentation of which nearly 
separates these mountains from the region to the north. 

A second group of mountains is the Sierra de los Or- 
ganos, found in the extreme western province of Pinar del 
Rio, extending northeast and southwest between Mariel, 
near Havana, and Cape San Antonio. This range consists 
of lower ridges and of geologic formations different from 
those of the Sierra Maestra. Its summits culminate in the 
Pan de Guajaibon, west of Havana, which has an altitude 
of 2532 feet. Its rocks are composed of deformed sedi- 
mentaries of supposed Paleozoic, Triassic, Jurassic, and 
Tertiary age, the uplift of which may have been cumula- 
tive, but culminated during the close of the last-mentioned 



THE ISLAND OF CUBA 41 

period.^ The Organos are covered with a growth of pine 
{Pinus cuhensis) and flanked on either side by many beau- 
tiful slopes and valleys, those on the south constituting 
the famous Vuelta Aba jo tobacco-lands. 

While the Sierra de los Organos proper cease just west 
of Havana, the strike of their uplift, accompanied by the 
same character of dark-colored protrusions of igneous 
rocks flanked by the white Tertiary limestones, although 
void of the older rocks, is traceable by a series of low, 
disconnected hills, in a gently curved line passing through- 
out the central plain of the island and to the north of the 
third or central group of Trinidad, into the western part 
of the province of Puerto Principe. Thus, in a manner, 
this line of uplift, varying in intensity from the sharp 
ridges of the west to low, flattened folds in the middle 
provinces, constitutes the nearest resemblance to an axial 
backbone of the body of the sinuous outline of the island, 
while the Sierra Maestra constitutes the head. The 
principal components of these interrupted summits of 
low relief dotting the plains of Havana, Matanzas, Santa 
Clara, and Puerto Principe are as follows: Almost due 

1 The general geology of the island, while not discussed in this book, is well 
shown in many of the illustrations. It may be briefly stated as consisting of 
an older basement of pre-Tertiary sedimentary rocks, in which Cretaceous and 
probably Jurassic fossils have been found. Above this there are, first, littoral 
beds composed of terrigenous material, and then a great thickness of white 
limestones consisting of organically derived oceanic material, as distinguished 
from true reef rock of late Eocene and Oligocene age. The island was re- 
claimed from the sea and assumed its present relief by a great mountain-mak- 
ing movement in late Tertiary time, succeeding the deposition of these lime- 
stones. In later epochs, Pliocene and Pleistocene, the island underwent a 
series of epeirogenic subsidences and elevations which affected the coastal 
borders, producing the wave-cut cliffs and a margin of elevated reef rock 
which borders the coast in many places, as can be recognized in the illustra- 
tions of the cities of Havana and Baracoa. So far as its history is known, the 
island has never been connected with the American mainland, although such 
has frequently been asserted to be the case. These assertions have been 
based upon the erroneous identification of certain vertebrate animal remains. 
There are no traces in the animal life of Cuba, past or present, which justify 
this conclusion. Some of the crystalline rocks may be very ancient, but most 
of them are mid-Tertiary in age. 



42 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

south of Havana, commencing east of the village of San- 
tiago, is a range of low, timbered hills, surrounded by 
plains, including the Tetas de Managua, the Areas de Ca- 
nasi, the Lomas de Camoa, the Escalera de Jaruco (which 
is visible from a great distance), and the Pan de Matanzas. 
Along the north coast between Havana and Matanzas there 
are many of these hills, which, as remarked by Humboldt, 
afford some of the most beautiful scenic prospects in the 
world. The occurrence of these lower timbered summits 
in a region which is generally level plain has afforded a 
safe retreat for bands of insurgents, who made them a base 
for frequent incursions upon the outskirts of Havana and 
Matanzas. 

For a brief interval these hills die out in eastern Matan- 
zas, but upon crossing into Santa Clara, and from thence 
on into Santiago de Cuba, they reappear as long crest-lines 
and flat-topped plateaus, following a line near and parallel 
with the north coast, including the Sierras Zatibonico and 
Cubitas. The last-named ridge was an impregnable in- 
surgent stronghold during the revolution of 1895-98, and 
was for a time the seat of the insurgent government. 

These mountains continue along the north side of the 
island as far east as Gribara and Baracoa, where they become 
inextricably mixed with the remarkable topographic fea- 
tures known as the cuchillas — the remnants of a dissected 
upland plain, cut into a thousand canons and salients, 
which are more fully discussed under the head of the 
limestone plains. 

The third group of high mountains occupies a limited area 
between Cienfuegos and Santo Espiritu, on the south side 
of the central portion of the island and to the northward of 
the city of Trinidad, and entirely south of the axial group 
above described. These are less angular than the emi- 
nences of the Sierra Maestra, and consist of central summits 
with radiating slopes, the highest of which is El Potrerillo, 
2900 feet. They are composed of semi-crystalline lime- 
stones and shales, which have been doubtfully considered 



THE ISLAND OF CUBA 43 

of Paleozoic origin, flanked by highly disturbed Cretaceous 
and Tertiary beds. Interspersed between these mountains 
are numerous fertile valleys, giving to this part of Cuba 
its beautiful and diversified landscape. 

The three dominant groups of mountains above described 
may be either topographic irregularities surviving from 
earlier epochs or eminences pushed up with the great 
sheets of white Tertiary limestone. This white limestone 
is one of the most marked features of the Cuban structure, 
and in all the intermediate and coastal areas the dominant 
formation of the island. It makes a thick crust, gently 
warped and undulated in many directions, and has great 
variation in altitude. Its maximum elevation (2500 feet) 
is in the extreme east ; it gradually decreases to the center 
of the island, and rises again to the west. In the eastern 
and northern parts of the province of Santiago de Cuba 
it constitutes an elevated plateau, attaining a height of 
nearly 1800 feet, and embeds the base of the Sierra Maestra. 
Here it is so dissected by drainage that it gives a most 
rugged and picturesque relief to the district which it occu- 
pies, and presents on the seaward side a remarkable series 
of terraced cliffs, previously mentioned as rising in stair- 
like arrangement above the sea, representing successive 
elevations of the island in Pliocene, Pleistocene, and recent 
time. This topography culminates in extensive flat- topped 
summits like the Mesa Toar and the Junki (anvil) of Bara- 
coa (1827 feet), which are so symmetrical in outline that 
they have been frequently mistaken for volcanic craters. 
The older and upper terraces are cut into numerous 
sharp, knife- edged salients, known as cuchillas, the Span- 
ish word for knives. The lower terraces are cut straight 
across by wonderful vertical canons, through which 
beautiful and limpid streams find outlet to the sea. In 
our wide travels in tropical regions we have never seen 
landscapes so unique as in this wild region of eastern 
Cuba, nor so beautiful, withal, in their rugged scarps 
and exquisite foliage. These terraces extend completely 



44 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

around the eastern end of the island, where they have 
their finest development on the south coast, between Cape 
Maysi and Gruantanamo,. and form a kind of dado to the 
Sierra Maestra range along the whole of the Santiago 
coast.i 

Remnants of these terraces, such as flat- topped summits 
of circumdenudation, occur at rare intervals as far west as 
Matanzas, but with decreasing altitude. The most con- 
spicuous of these are the Sierra Matahambre and the Pan 
de Matanzas (1200 feet). To the westward, in the provinces 
of Matanzas and Havana, the arch of the plateau, which 
follows the northern side, descends nearer and nearer 
sea-level, and develops a longer but gentle slope toward 
the south coast, hence presenting a cliff topography to the 
north sea, and gradually sloping southward, as the great 
central plain of Cuba, into the Caribbean. The southern 
slope produces the extensive cienaga, or swamp, known as. 
the Zapata, on the coast opposite Matanzas, and continues 
out into the sea toward the Isle of Pines, forming the shal- 
low foundation of the Jardinillo keys. 

Through the provinces of Puerto Principe and Santa 
Clara, except where broken by the central mountains of 
Trinidad, this limestone stretch forms two wide coastal 
belts, each about a third the width of the island, separated 
by a central axial strip. West of Santa Clara these two 
belts unite into the broad plains of Matanzas and Havana, 
where they constitute the central sugar region of Cuba, 
the Vuelta Arriba, and again diverge west of the latter 
city along either side of the central mountains of Pinar del 
Rio, where they constitute the Vuelta Abajo. These lime- 
stone districts weather into fertile calcareous soils, red and 
black in color, and of a quality and depth unequaled in the 
world, and their extent in the level region is an almost 
continuous field of sugar-cane. 

At two places throughout the length of the island there 
are depressions crossing it where the divide is reduced to 

1 The battle of Santiago was fought in the terraced foot-hills. 




CHURCH OF MONTSERRAT 




YUMURI VALLEY, NEAR MATANZAS 
MATANZAS 



THE ISLAND OF CUBA 45 

less than five hundred feet. The first of these is between 
Moron and the south coast, in Puerto Principe, and the 
second between Havana and Batabano. 

Cuba is famous for the beauty and fertility of its valleys, 
some of which are wide plains through which rivers and 
streams thread their way to the sea, and others circular 
amphitheaters surrounded by a perimeter of picturesque 
hiUs. 

In the more rugged eastern provinces there are many 
valleys of the former class, of wide extent and great fer- 
tility. The most extensive of these is that of the Rio Cauto 
in Santiago de Cuba. It is situated in a protected position 
between rugged mountains on the north and south, and 
threaded by a navigable river, at the mouth of which is the 
city of Manzanillo, the seaport of the region. This valley 
is densely populated and has been one of the chief strong- 
holds of the most recent uprising. It produces immense 
crops of sugar and other Cuban staples. 

In Puerto Principe there are long grass-covered valleys 
parallel to the central mountains and the rugged coasts, 
which are the site of the cattle-raising industry of the 
island. These are underlain by gravelly soils, less fertile 
than those elsewhere found. 

It is in the provinces of Matanzas and Santa Clara, 
however, that Cuba's most charming valleys are encoun- 
tered. One of the most attractive features of Cuba, and 
the Mecca of every tourist, is the peculiar circular basin 
west of Matanzas, known as the valley of the Yumuri. 
This comparatively level depression is some five or six 
miles in diameter, and dotted with picturesque estates and 
long avenues of royal palms. Through its center winds 
the beautiful Yumuri River, which finds an outlet at 
Matanzas through the vertical walls of an exquisite 
canon. It is inclosed on all sides by steeply sloping walls 
rising some five or six hundred feet to the level of a 
plateau out of which the valley has been cut. It has been 
truly said that it is impossible to describe the charm of 



46 CUBA AND POETO RICO 

this " Happy Valley," so rich in its vegetation, and so de- 
lightfully is it watered by the river Yumuri and tributary 
streams ; so delicious, even on the hottest summer days, is 
its atmosphere, tempered by the Atlantic breezes. 

The valleys of Santa Clara around Villa Clara, Cienfue- 
gos, and Trinidad are even more picturesque, surrounded 
as they are by higher and more pointed mountains. In 
some of these from twenty to thirty large sugar-estates 
can be counted from a single point of view. 

By provinces the relief may be summarized as follows : 
Santiago de Cuba is predominantly a mountainous region 
of high relief, especially along the coasts, with many in- 
terior valleys. Puerto Principe and Villa Clara are broken 
regions of low mountain relief, diversified by extensive 
valleys. Matanzas and Havana are vast stretches of level 
cultivated plain, with only a few hills of relief. Pinar del 
Rio is centrally mountainous, with fertile coastward slopes. 

The rivers of Cuba are frequent, varying in character 
in different parts of the island. Considering the limited 
catchment areas, these streams are remarkably copious in 
volume. In the plains of the central and western prov- 
inces the streams flow from the central axis toward the 
corresponding coast, and have opalescent waters, like those 
of the limestone springs of Texas and Florida. In this 
part of the island these streams run through widely slop- 
ing valleys, with only slightly indented streamways, and 
are remarkably free from lateral ramifications. Canons 
are not developed until they reach the abrupt plateau edge 
of the north coast. Many of the southward-flowing streams 
of this portion of the island do not reach the sea directly, 
but disperse into vast cienagas, or swamps. Several of 
the stream valleys, like that of the Yumuri of Matanzas,. 
are accompanied by some of the most restful and beautiful 
landscapes in the world. The Rio Armendaris, which 
nearly encircles Havana on the southward and empties 
into the sea at Chorerra, affords that city an abundant 
supply of water. In this and other portions of the island 



THE ISLAND OF CUBA 47 

where the limestone formation prevails, as in all the white- 
limestone areas of the tropics, a large portion of the drain- 
age is subterranean, accompanied by many remarkable 
caverns. The rivers Cnyajabos, Pedernales, Guanajay, 
Copellanias, San Antonio, and others along the south 
slope of Pinar del Rio, disappear in limestone caverns, 
where they continue their seaward course. The Falls of 
Rosario in this province are of great beauty, as is also an 
immense natural bridge. 

In the province of Santiago and part of Puerto Principe 
the drainage is more complicated. Rio Magari of Santi- 
ago has three fine cataracts before reaching the sea at 
Mpe. The limestone plateaus of northern and eastern 
Santiago de Cuba give rise to many rivers, the most re- 
markable of which are the Cabanas, the Yamanigacy, and 
the Moa, which in descending the escarpments of the high 
levels of the Toar disappear beneath the surface and re- 
appear on a lower terrace, over the edge of which they are 
precipitated in cascades of three hundred feet to the coast. 
Other streams, such as the Yumuri of the east, find outlet 
through sharply cut canons indenting the limestone cliffs of 
the back-coast border. The central portion of Santiago 
province is dominated by the Rio Cauto and its ramifica- 
tions. This is the longest river on the island, and flows in 
a westerly direction for a distance of one hundred and fifty 
miles, draining the wide and fertile valley to which its name 
is applied. This stream is navigable for small boats for a 
considerable distance (eighty to one hundred miles), but 
its mouth has been obstructed by bars. The Sagua is a 
tidal stream which is also navigable for a few miles, as 
are also the Agabama near Trinidad, the Palma, and the 
Jatibonico. 

There are no extensive lakes in the interior of Cuba, the 
only one of note being Lake Ariguanabo, situated in the 
hilly country twenty miles southwest of Havana. This is 
about six square miles in area, thirty feet deep, and con- 
tains many fishes. It is drained by a peculiar river, the 



48 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

San Antonio, which disappears beneath the roots of a large 
ceiba-tree, without surface continuity to the sea. 

With the exception of the great Zapata and a few 
swampy places toward the western extremity of the 
island, Cuba is singularly free from marshy or poorly 
drained land. Occasionally a few acres of playa, or low 
alluvial land, may be found around the harbors, but the 
rivers are free from wide bottoms, and the land as a whole 
stands well above the sea. The great swamp known as the 
Zapata occupies an area of about six hundred square miles 
on the southern coast, opposite Matanzas and Havana, 
bordering the shore for about sixty miles between the Broa 
and Cochinos inlets. It stands nearly at sea-level, but 
although almost a dead flat, it presents a great diversity of 
aspects. In some places the stagnant waters are dammed 
up by sandy strips along the coast ; in others the surface 
is concealed by dense mangrove thickets ; elsewhere chan- 
nels without perceptible currents, the remains of former 
rivers, wind sluggishly amid the vegetation. Here and 
there open sheets of water sparkle in the sun, while others 
disappear beneath vast areas covered by the wide leaves of 
water-lilies. In places the ground is firm enough to sup- 
port a clump of trees, but most of the surface consists of 
quagmires, or boggy expansions, inaccessible to man or 
beast. 

There are many minor features in the physical geog- 
raphy of Cuba which cannot be here described in detail. 
The caverns are especially beautiful. The largest of these 
underlie the cuehillas of the east, but have never been 
systematically explored or described. 

The cave of Bellemar, about two and one half miles 
east of Matanzas, is one of the sights of the island. It is 
reached by a pleasant drive along the seaside and through 
pretty suburbs. The entrance is situated upon the top of 
the coastal plateau and has a handsome building. This 
cave is open for three miles and is known to extend down 
five hundred feet in the white limestone. It differs from 



THE ISLAND OF CUBA 49 

the caverns of our own country, such as those of Kentucky 
and Virginia, by the fact that, while the latter impress us 
with their magnitude, the Cuban caves overwhelm us with 
the beauty, snow-like whiteness, and delicacy of the stalac- 
tite and stalagmite forms ; in fact, these have the whiteness 
and purity of Parian marble. 

There are also some waterfalls, natural bridges, and 
many mineral springs and baths. Among the latter may 
be mentioned the springs of San Diego in the province of 
Pinar del Rio, which have long been a favorite resort of the 
Cubans. Their waters are reputed to be unusually salu- 
brious and efficacious for many diseases, especially those 
of a rheumatic character. 

Madruga, formerly known as the Cuban Saratoga, about 
two hours' ride by rail to the southwest of Matanzas, is 
also celebrated for its mineral springs. Its high situation 
renders its air much more cool and pleasant than that of 
the plain during the spring, when the southwest winds are 
annoying. The baths are more or less impregnated with 
sulphur, iron, magnesia, and potassa, and are recom- 
mended for rheumatism, paralysis, weakness of the stom- 
ach, scrofula, etc. There are several of these, such as La 
Pila, El Templada, etc. The water is rather cool. Invalids 
from all parts of the island formerly came here and found 
amusement in bathing, riding, and walking to the tops of 
the neighboring hills, from which fine views may be had. 
From the top of one of these, Cupey, the view of the valley 
of Clara is very fine. As far as the eye can reach one can 
see the waving cane-fields, with occasional patches of woods 
or clumps of palms, and lightened by the tall white chim- 
neys of the sugar-mills, while in the distance there is just 
the faintest glimpse of mountains and hills fading into the 
hazy sea. Limonar, one of the most pleasant places on 
the island, is not far from Matanzas. Its air is very in- 
vigorating. From there one can drive to the San Miguel 
sulphur-baths. 



CHAPTER VI 

CLIMATE, FLOKA, AND FAUNA 

Temperatui-e and precipitation. Native trees and flowers. The royal 
palm. Scarcity of mammals. Birds, reptiles, and insect life. 

EXTENSIVE climatologic records are not available, 
except for Havana, and these are not applicable to 
the whole island, where it is but natural to suppose that 
altitude and position relative to the high mountains pro- 
duce great variations in precipitation and humidity, such 
as are observable in adjacent islands. The Sierra Maestra 
probably presents conditions of temperature very nearly 
the same as the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, where the 
thermometer at times falls almost to ijie freezing-point. 

Everywhere the rains are most abundant in summer, 
from May to October— the rainy season. As a rule, the 
rains, brought by the trade-winds, are heavier and more 
frequent on the higher slopes of the eastern end, although 
these are more arid near sea-level. At Havana the annual 
rainfall is 51.73 inches, or eight inches less than New 
Orleans. Of the total, 32.37 inches fall in the wet sea- 
son. In New Orleans 27 inches fall in the same months. 
This rainfall is not excessive, being no greater than that 
of our Eastern States, although somewhat differently dis- 
tributed. The air at this place is usually charged with 
eighty- five per cent, of moisture, which under the tropical 
sun largely induces the rich mantle of vegetation. The 
average number of rainy days in the year is one hundred 

50 



CLIMATE, FLORA, AND FAUNA 51 

and two. There is but one record of snow having fallen 
in Cuba; this was in 1856. 

At Havana, in July and August, the warmest months, 
the average temperature is 82° F., fluctuating between 
a maximum of 88° and a minimum of 76°. The highest 
temperature recorded in Havana for ten years was 100°, 
or four degrees less than the highest of Washington city 
for the same period. In the cooler months of December 
and January the thermometer averages 72°, the maximum 
being 78°, the minimum 50°. The average temperature of 
the year at Havana, a mean of seven years, is 77° ; but 
in the interior, at elevations of over 300 feet above the sea, 
the thermometer occasionally falls to the freezing-point in 
winter, hoar-frost is not uncommon, and during north 
winds thin ice may form. The maximum temperature is 
reached between noon and two o'clock in the afternoon, 
and the minimum between dawn and sunrise. The average 
diurnal range of temperature is about 10°. 

For Matanzas, on the coast, about fifty miles east of 
Havana, there is a record for two years, beginning in 
August, 1832, and ending in July, 1833, and again begin- 
ning in January, 1835, and ending with December of the 
same year. From this record the mean annual temperature 
at Matanzas appears to be about 78°. The highest tem- 
perature is recorded as 93°, and the lowest as 51°. 

At Santiago, on the extreme southeast coast, the tem- 
perature is apparently higher than on the northern and 
western coasts, and from the meager data available appears 
to be about 80°, with an average difference between the 
warmest and coldest months of about 6° F. A very short 
fragment of a record of temperature has been found for 
Trinidad.de Cuba, about midway on the southern coast, 
giving the average temperature from December, 1851, to 
March, 1852, for the hours of 7 a. m., 2 p. m., and 7 p. m., as 
72.8°, 78.7°, and 75.3° F., respectively ; and the observer 
remarks that during that period the highest temperature 
recorded was 84°, and the lowest 64.5° F., and the greatest 



52 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

range in any twenty-four hours was 9.5°, which occurred 
upon the day having the highest temperature. 

For the interior of the island only two temperature 
records have been found, namely, for Ubajay and the 
mines of San Fernando. Ubajay is (or was at the time) 
a village about fifteen miles southwest of Havana, and 
about 242 feet above sea-level. Its average temperature 
from four years' observations was 73.6° F. The record is 
quoted by Baron Humboldt, and was made during 1796- 
99. The place given as the San Fernando mines is about 
150 miles eastward of Havana, and is 554 feet above sea- 
level. The temperature record is for the year 1839, and 
shows an average of 75°. From these records the average 
annual temperature of the interior of the island would 
appear to be considerably lower than on the coast. 

The prevailing wind is the easterly trade-breeze, but 
from November to February cool north winds {los nortes, 
or "northers"),— the southern attenuation of our own 
cold waves, — rarely lasting more than forty-eight hours, 
are experienced in the western portion of the island, to 
which they add a third seasonal change. From ten to 
twelve o'clock are the hottest hours of the day; after 
noon a refreshing breeze {Ja virazon) sets in from the sea. 

The whole island is more or less subject to hurricanes, 
often of great ferocity. The hurricane of 1846 leveled 
nearly two thousand houses in Havana, and sank or 
wi'ecked over three hundred vessels. In 1896 the banana- 
plantations of the east were similarly destroyed. Earth- 
quakes are seldom felt in the western districts, but are 
frequent in the eastern. 

All in all, the climate of Cuba is much more salubrious 
than it has been painted. The winter months are delight- 
ful, — in fact, ideal, — while the summer months are more 
endurable than in most of our own territory. The current 
impressions of insalubrity have arisen from an erroneous 
confusion of bad sanitation with the weather. While it is 
true that sickness follows the seasons, the former would 




DRIVE TO THE BELLAMAR CAVES 




ROYAL PALMS, SUGAR-ESTATE OFFICIAL BUILDING 

MATANZAS 



CLIMATE, FLORA, AND FAUNA 53 

be greatly allayed — almost abated— if public hygiene re- 
ceived proper official consideration. 

The surface of the island is clad in a voluptuous floral 
mantle, which, from its abundance and beauty, first caused 
Cuba to be designated the Pearl of the Antilles. In addi- 
tion to those introduced from abroad, over 3350 native 
plants have been catalogued. Humboldt said : " We might 
believe the entire island was originally a forest of palms, 
wild limes, and orange-trees." The flora includes nearly 
all the characteristic forms of the other West Indies, the 
southern part of Florida, and the Central American sea- 
board. Nearly all the large trees of the Mexican Tierra 
Caliente, so remarkable for their size, foliage, and.f ragrance, 
reappear in western Cuba. Numerous species of palm, 
including the famous royal palm {Oreodoxa regia), occur, 
while the pine-tree, elsewhere characteristic of the tem- 
perate zone and the high altitudes of the tropics, is found 
associated with palms and mahoganies in the province of 
Pinar del Rio and the Isle of Pines, both of which take their 
names from this tree. Among other woods are the lignum- 
vitae, granadilla, the coco-wood, out of which reed-instru- 
ments are made, mahogany, and Cedrela odorata, which is 
used for cigar-boxes and linings of cabinet work. Fustic^ 
logwood, and many species of mahogany abound. 

Although three hundred years of cultivation have ex- 
terminated the forests from the sugar-lands of the center 
and west, it is estimated that in the hills of those districts 
and the mountains of the east nearly thirteen million acres 
of uncleared forest remain. 

Rich and nutritious grasses are found throughout the 
island, affording excellent forage for stock. The pineapple, 
manioc,' sweet potato, and Indian corn are indigenous. 
When the flora of Cuba is studied geographically, it will 
doubtless be grouped under several subdivisions. 

First among the beautiful trees of Cuba are the palms, 
some twenty- six varieties of which give shade, food, and 
life. At the head of these stands the royal palm, a tree 



54 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

peculiar to the island. This majestic tree consists of a tall, 
spindle-shaped trunk of fibrous wood, supporting a cluster 
of pinnate leaves. It is a marvel of beauty and utility, 
and is the most common of all trees in Cuba. It is met 
with almost everywhere; in the center of broad pasture- 
lands it often stands alone, tall and straight, while border- 
ing the cultivated fields of the rich planter it forms shady 
avenues to his dwelling. Again, its seed finds root amid 
the gloom of the forest, sending the tall shaft high up to 
find room for its fairy-like cluster of plumes in the free air 
above. On the plains it often forms delicious groves of 
shade, and on the distant mountain it may be seen rearing 
its plumed crest against the sky, while in the valley below 
its dark leaves murmur softly in cadence with the winding 
river over which they sway. 

This palm has been called the blessed tree, for every part 
of it has its usefulness to mankind. Certain medicinal 
qualities are claimed for its roots, and its trunk is easily 
split into strips, making excellent boards for the siding of 
houses, benches, and even tables. As the trunk is without 
any bark, and its center is very porous, increasing in density 
toward the outer surface, which is nearly as hard as glass, 
it is only the outside shell which furnishes these boards. 
From this hard, fibrous wood canes are made, which take a 
most beautiful i^olish. The leaves of the palm grow from 
the center of the trunk, first in the form of a delicate spire 
shooting up, which, gradually unfolding itself, forms a new 
leaf. These leaves continue to grow from the central spire 
to a great length, forming the cluster which, in the case of 
the royal palm, resembles so much a bunch of enormous 
plumes. The leaves, when they cannot grow any more, 
drop to the ground from the bottom of the cluster, thus 
making room for the new ones which are always coming 
out of the center. The bud or root of the central spire, 
from which the leaves grow, consists of a tender substance 
buried deep down within the cluster of green leaves, and 
forms a very palatable food, either in the raw state, or 
cooked as a vegetable, or made into a preserve with sugar. 



CLIMATE, FLOKA, AND FAUNA 55 

One of the peculiarities of the royal palm is the stem of 
its long leaves. It is semicircular, and embraces the trunk 
of the tree, holding the leaf in place until it withers and 
drops to the ground. This stem is called the yagua. It 
resembles a thin board, often from four to six feet tall, and 
the Cuban insurgent makes it serve him a variety of pur- 
poses. For example, in the field it frequently is made to do 
duty as a plate by simply cutting off a section of it. By 
soaking in water it is rendered pliable, so that it may be 
folded almost as readily as a piece of stiff paper. Thus 
softened, it is folded at the ends, something after the fashion 
of a baker's paper hat, and fastened with wooden pins. In 
this shape it is called a catarro, and serves the Cuban 
farmer as a water-bucket, or a wash-basin, or a receptacle 
for milk, lard, cheese, eggs, or other products. A group of 
rebels may often be seen using a yagua thus folded as. a 
kettle in which to cook their breakfast of beef and yams. 
The water keeps the fibrous wood from burning, and the 
food thus cooked requires no salt other than that which is 
extracted from the yagua in the process of cooking. It is 
also said that in case of absolute necessity salt could be 
obtained by the simple process of boiling water in a catarro 
when green, and one enthusiast estimates that a dozen 
catarros would produce a pound of salt. 

The fauna of Cuba is peculiar. Only two land mammals 
are known to be indigenous to the island. One of these is 
a rodent, as large as our domestic rabbit, known as the 
agouti, which still inhabits the rocks and hills of the east- 
ern end of the island in great numbers. This animal, which 
is found only in the West Indies, occurs also in the other 
Antilles and the Windward Islands, excepting Jamaica. 
The other land mammal is a peculiar insectivore, soleno- 
don, belonging to a family of which other representatives 
are known only from Madagascar. 

Among the reptiles may be mentioned a species of iguana, 
in the eastern end of the island. There are also a few 
snakes, none of which is poisonous or vicious. The na- 
tives are not a little proud of this fact, and even assert 



56 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

that venomous species when introduced gradually lose their 
poison. There are no venomous reptiles in the island. 
There is one enormous variety of boa, called the maja, of 
immense strength. It is perfectly black, as thick as one's 
arm, and capable of swelling itself out to nearly five times 
its natural size, and has a blood-red mouth — all of which 
sounds very alarming. But he is a lazy fellow and does 
not trouble himself about human beings, being satisfied 
with pigs and goats and even small game. The cayman, or 
crocodile, is found on the Isle of Pines, the same species 
which also occurs in the southern part of Florida, Jamaica, 
and Central America. A few fresh-water fishes are found 
in the streams, mostly of the family Cyclidce, represented 
by species having a superficial resemblance to our sun- 
fishes. A large lepidosteus, similar to the alligator-gar of 
our own Southern States, is found. The Cyprinodontidce are 
also represented" by two or three genera ; these are related 
to the killies. In the caves of Cuba two blind fishes are 
found, one of which belongs to a family occurring elsewhere 
only in the great depths of the sea. 

The insect life is abundant and beautiful. There are 
also many arachnids. While the sting of the scorpion and 
bite of the spider are temporarily painful, neither of them 
results in serious consequences. 

The most interesting features of the fauna of Cuba are 
the wonderful land- and fresh-water mollusks, whose size 
and gorgeous coloring, like those of the Htlix 2Jictci, place 
them among the most beautiful objects of the molluscan 
kind. The birds of Cuba are numerous, including both 
indigenous and migratory forms from other lands. The 
parrot is the most conspicuous of these, the others being 
of smaller size. There is only one humming-bird indige- 
nous to the island. The shallower waters of the borders are 
inhabited also by that peculiar marine mammal, the manatee. 

Collectively the fauna of Cuba, like that of all the islands, 
shows long isolation from other lands. 




VIEW IN THE BOTANICAL GARDENS 




FRUIT-STAND 



A MARKET-PLACE 



m 


%u^ 


^^^^^^^^p 


^3 


w^s 




w 


^^ 


f^^^^ 




^^ 




LECHE A DOMICILIO' 



DONKEYS LOADED WITH WOOD 



HAVANA 



CHAPTER VII 

HEALTH AND SANITATION 

Natural healthfulness of tlie island. Ordinary diseases due to tropical 
situation. Epidemics and yellow fever. Hygienic precautions and 
suggestions. 

BEING within the tropics, Cuba is naturally subject to 
the diseases peculiar to them, such as malarial, bil- 
ious, and intermittent fevers, and liver, dysentery, and 
stomach complaints, the latter being chargeable more to 
indiscretion than climate, however. It is naturally more 
healthful than any of the other islands, with perhaps the 
exception of Jamaica. Unfortunately, these superior 
natural advantages are offset by the sanitary conditions 
of the cities, the death-rate, which is the best index as a 
rule, being entirely too large. According to Chaille, " the 
actual sanitary condition of the principal ports of Cuba is 
very unfavorable, since in recent years their death-rates 
have ranged from 31.9 to 66.7 per 1000." The annual death- 
rate of Havana, estimated from the best attainable sources, 
was found by Chaille to be 36.3 per 1000 ; of Gruanabacoa, 
39.8; of Marianao, 39.5. The sanitary condition of the 
inland towns is very little, if at all, better than that of the 
seaports. "The high death-rates of Gruanabacoa and of 
Marianao are especially notable, because these suburban 
towns, within, three and six miles of Havana, are summer 
resorts, and enjoy, especially Marianao, a high repute for 
salubrity." 

57 



58 CUBA AND POKTO KICO 

If we compare these rates with that of London (18.8) or 
those of some of the principal seaport cities in the United 
States, it will he evident that there is ample room for 
sanitary regeneration. 

The chief diseases causing death in Havana are, first, 
tuberculosis; second, the group of intestinal diseases in- 
cluding diarrhea, dysentery, and cholera infantum; and, 
third, yellow fever, a disease which chiefly affects strangers. 
Of these diseases the first class is world-wide, and need 
not be discussed further than to say that its presence 
here is favored by the prevalent humidity, and that 
those affected with it should keep away from the wet 
tropics in general. Of the second group of diseases, their 
occurrence in Cuba is largely due to an ignorance of pre- 
cautionary hygiene, concerning exposure, water, and food, 
which is a little denser there than in our own country. 
Their elimination is dependent upon education. The third 
disease — the horrible vomito, or yellow fever — is a serious 
problem, beyond individual control, and requiring the at- 
tention of united governmental action. This disease is now 
thoroughly established in Havana, which was at one time 
" justly considered one of the most healthful localities on 
the island." Parts of the city are permanentlj^ infected 
with the germs of the disease, and are considered one of the 
main foci from which it is spread, and the source of all of 
its outbreaks in this country. 

The occurrence of this disease in Havana has been 
studied in its every aspect by the highest medical officers 
of our army and marine hospital service, and its probable 
causes have been admirably set forth by Surgeon-General 
Sternberg in the " Century Magazine " of August, 1898. It 
is shown that the cause may not be the filthy condition of 
the harbor so much as the densely crowded and unsanitary 
condition of the houses of the poor, together with the 
primitive disposition of the sewage. Of the various evils 
recounted in connection with the subject of houses, there 
are some which deserve special attention. Many facts 



HEALTH AND SANITATION 59 

besides those associated with the holds of vessels justify 
the belief that the growth of the poison of yellow fever is 
specially favored in warm, moist, ill-ventilated places, 
where air is closely confined. A special report on the 
density of the population of Havana compared with 
numerous other cities has shown that more than three 
fourths of the people of Havana live in the most densely 
populated localities in the world. A tropical climate ren- 
ders this evil still greater. The low-lying fl.oors touching 
the earth, the small, densely packed houses, the unusually 
contracted ventilating- space in their rear, the large un ven- 
tilated excavation for privies and sinks, all furnish, as is 
firmly believed, the most favorable breeding-places for the 
poison of yellow fever. In addition, statistics prove that, 
in great cities subjected to ordinarily unfavorable condi- 
tions, the denser the population, the sicklier and shorter 
the lives of the inhabitants. Common sense and experi- 
ence unite to teach that the denser a population, the more 
wide- spread and frightful the havoc of communicable 
diseases. 

Dr. Sternberg states that he fully believes that it is 
practicable to put the city of Havana in such a sanitary 
condition that it would be exempt from yellow fever. But 
that this is an undertaking of considerable magnitude, in- 
volving the expenditure of large sums of money, and re- 
quiring much time, will be apparent when we have taken 
account of the nature of the sanitary improvements ne- 
cessary for the accomplishment of the desired result. 

Surgeon-General Weyman is equally positive that Ha- 
vana may be rid of this disease, which is such a menace 
to our country. England has driven it from permanent 
occupation of Jamaica and other West Indian Islands, and 
Mexico has excluded it from Vera Cruz, where, until the 
past ten years, it had an even more tenacious hold than in 
Havana. 

Yellow fever occurs more or less in all the denser cities 
of the island ; in fact, in the cities of all the islands of the 



60 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

West Indies except those under British rule, from which 
it has been eliminated by perfect quarantine and internal 
sanitation. It is essentially a disease of the sea-coast, and 
especially of large cities in an unsanitary condition; but 
when circumstances are favorable it may extend into the 
interior, following routes of travel, and especiallj^ navigable 
rivers, of which there are but few in Cuba. 

It is, however, confined to the lower levels, even in 
tropical or subtropical regions. In the Antilles the disease 
rarely prevails at an altitude above seven hundred feet, 
and hence a large part of Cuba is free from it. 

In these pages I have endeavored to eliminate personal 
experiences, but while on the subject of health and sani- 
tation I am tempted to depart from this rule. The greater 
part of my life has been spent in traveling in unsanitary 
regions, including many years in the worst plague-spots of 
the tropics. By taking advantage of the best hygienic 
rules and precautions, I have been able to avoid the fatality 
which has overtaken many of my predecessors in geological 
exploration. 

Three rules I have followed invariably: first, to adapt 
my habits of dress, food, and hours of work and rest to 
those of the people of the country ; secondly, never in any 
circumstances to drink a drop of native water where it 
could possibly be avoided, and if so always to boil it. For 
this purpose I have always carried an alcohol-lamp and a 
tin canteen, in which, when boiled water could not other- 
wise be obtained, I could myself attend to the matter. 
Twice when, in desperation after tedious exercises, I yielded 
to the temptation of drinking the native water unboiled, the 
results were almost fatal. The third rule has been never 
to linger around the densely crowded and unsanitary areas 
of cities, and alwaj^s to choose a room facing on the 
street. 

I have also carefully avoided the temptation to eat any 
kinds of fruits which may be offered, especially bananas, 
which, in the tropics, have an unpleasant acidity that 




A FUNERAL CAR 

SCENES IN CUBA 



/ 



HEALTH AND SANITATION 61 

deranges the digestion, not having undergone the mellow- 
ing and ripening process which this fruit passes through 
on its voyage to this country. 

Finally, it may be said that exposure to the heavy rain- 
falls of the tropics, if not immediately followed by a change 
of clothing, invariably conduces to malaria. 



CHAPTER yill 

GEOGRAPHIC SUBDIVISIONS 

Administrative departments. Numerical population. Eesume of previ- 
ous history leading to present conditions. Administration and gov- 
ernment. Absolutism of authority. Its effects and influences. 
Rehgion and education. 

BEGINNING- on the west, Cuba is divided into six 
provinces, as follows : Pinar del Rio, Havana, Matan- 
zas, Santa Clara, Puerto Principe, and Santiago. Under 
the military rule of the island these divisions have no 
particular political significance. 

The local designations for natural divisions of the island 
are Vuelta Abajo, Vuelta Arriba, Cinco Villas, Camaguey, 
and the Tierra Adentro. The exact meaning of the terms 
" Vuelta Abajo " and " Vuelta Arriba " cannot well be inter- 
preted, as they are idiomatic Spanish names. Among the 
significations of the word vuelta is " the turning of an arch " ; 
and as the city of Havana, relative to which these terms are 
applied, is at the summit of an arch-like trend in the outline 
of western Cuba, it may be inferred that " Vuelta Abajo " 
signifies the downward or south trend of the island west 
of Havana, and " Vuelta Arriba " the upward or northern 
turn to the east of that city. " Vuelta Abajo " is applied 
to all the island lying west of Havana, and a portionof this 
is sometimes called the Partido de Fuera, which includes 
the part lying between the meridians of Havana and San 
Cristobal. The Vuelta Arriba includes the sugar plain 
eastward as far as Santa Clara. The areas contiguous to 

62 



GEOGRAPHIC SUBDIVISIONS 63 

Havana as a commercial metropolis are included in the 
Vuelta Arriba and Vuelta Abajo, and in the minds of the 
Havanese and the larger sugar-planters they comprise all 
of Cuba worthy of commercial or political consideration. 

The other popular divisions, Cinco Villas, Camaguey, and 
Tierra Adentro, are the chief seats of the Cuban population, 
where opposition to Spanish rule has always been greatest ; 
and though of entirely different topographic and economic 
characteristics, they rank equally with the Vuelta districts 
in every respect except wealth. These constitute the real 
Cuba of the Cubans, and will play a most important part 
in the future development of the island. 

For administrative purposes the island is divided into two 
grand departments, known as the Eastern and the Western. 
The Western Department is again divided into the two 
grand districts (gohiernos) of Havana and Matanzas, and 
into the civil districts (tenencias de gohierno) of Pinar 
del Eio, Bahia Honda, San Cristobal, Gruanajay, San An- 
tonio de los Banos, Gruanabacoa, Santa Maria del Eosario, 
Santiago de las Vegas, Bejucal, Guines, Jaruco, Cardenas, 
Colon, Sagua la Grrande, Villa Clara, Cienf uegos, Trinidad, 
Santo Espiritu, Moron, and San Juan de los Remedios. 
The Eastern Department is divided into the grand dis- 
tricts of Santiago de Cuba and Puerto Principe, and into 
the civil districts of Nuevitas, Las Tunas, Manzanillo, 
Bayamo, Jiguani, Holguin, Gruantanamo, and Baracoa. The 
civil or subdistricts are again divided into districts {par- 
tidos), of which there are one hundred and sixty-one in 
the island. The headquarters (caheceras) are those towns 
and cities which give their names to the districts. The 
principal ones are Havana, Puerto Principe, Matanzas, 
Santiago de Cuba, Trinidad, Santo Espiritu, Gruanabacoa, 
Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Cardenas, Bayamo, and San Juan 
de los Remedios. 

A century before the Anglo-Saxon found foothold in the 
New World, Spaniards, led by Velasquez and Diego, the son 
of Columbus, colonized Cuba and built the cities of Baracoa, 



64 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

Santiago, and Havana.' The earlier centuries of coloniza- 
tion were first marked by a fruitless search for gold, little 
of which was found, except as personal ornaments of the 
natives, who were enslaved and finally exterminated. 
Pastoral pursuits soon developed. Before the end of a 
century the cultivation of tobacco, an indigenous product, 
and cane imported from the Canaries, was begun, and 
African slavery introduced. During this first century the 
island was also the seat of great maritime activity, from 
which the explorations of the mainland proceeded. Morro, 
Punti, and other fortresses, which to-daj'- stand in danger 
of annihilation, were begun before 1600. 

The second century of the settlement of Cuba was marked 
by increasing agricultural development and colonization, 
but was disturbed by the constant fear of English buca- 
neers and French and Dutch pirates, who made the coastal 
cities their frequent prey. During this time the walls and 
primitive fortifications of Havana, Matanzas, and other 
cities interesting to the traveler, were built. 

Similar conditions continued during the third century 
of European occupation. These ended in 1762 in the nota- 
ble capture of Havana by the English under Lord Albe- 
marle, who, assisted by American colonial troops, overcame 
the superior Spanish army and captured spoils amounting 
to four million dollars. 

The treaty of Paris (1763) restored Cuba to the Spanish, 
and from that time until 1834 the island saw its greatest 
prosperity. The rich soil yielded its harvests of tropical 
products, and ships laden with precious cargoes sailed 
from its hundred ports. The island itself, in those days of 
wooden craft, became a center of ship-building. To Las 
Casas, who arrived as captain-general in 1790, is attributed 
the greater part of this brilliant epoch in Cuban history. 

1 Velasquez founded many towns upon the island, the first of which was 
Baraeoa, in 1512; Trinidad, Santo Espiritu, and Puerto Principe, in 1514; 
and Santiago de Cuba and the original Habana, on the south side of the island 
near Batabano, in 1515. 




PLAZA DES ARMAS AND CAPTAIN-GENERAL'S PALACE 




TEMPLETE MONUMENT, ERECTED AT SITE OF FIRST MASS SAID IN HAVANA 

HAVANA 



GEOGRAPHIC SUBDIVISIONS 65 

He promoted with indefatigable perseverance a series of 
public vrorks, including nearly all those now found upon 
the island ; he established botanical gardens and schools of 
agriculture, sought far and wide for suitable plants for 
profitable culture, and, as far as possible, removed the 
trammels imposed upon commerce by the old system of 
privilege and restriction. 

Owing to the wise administration of Las Casas, and its 
influences which were felt after his departure, Cuba's 
allegiance to the Spanish crown was maintained during 
the times (1794-1820) that witnessed the loss to Spain 
of her mainland colonies and Santo Domingo, and the 
terrible Haitian revolt against the French. It was this 
loyalty which caused Cuba to be termed the " Ever-faithful 
Island," a loyalty attested, in July, 1808, — when news 
reached Havana that Napoleon had overthrown the Span- 
ish dynasty, — by the unanimous and patriotic action of 
the municipal corporations, which took oath to hold the 
island for the deposed sovereign, and declared war against 
Napoleon. 

This patriotism was but poorly rewarded by the mother- 
country ; for, beginning with that very year, she initiated 
the unwise policy of sending to Cuba as captains-general 
men imbued with no motive other than that of reaping 
from its revenues private fortunes with which to return to 
Spain. These men were armed with absolute authority. 
A few of them were honorable and noble ; others, by their 
acts, covered their names with infamy. 

By the decree of 1825, which still constitutes the funda- 
mental law of Cuba, the captains-general were armed with 
a despotic authority such as is known in no other Christian 
country. This enabled them to arrest, banish, execute, or 
otherwise punish any resident of the island whom they sus- 
pected ; and later the decree was supplemented by authority 
to set aside the judgments of the highest courts. These acts 
deprived the inhabitants of all political, civil, and religious 
liberty, and practically excluded them from public office. 



66 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

The result was an end to domestic peace, and the initia- 
tion of uprisings which have continued at intervals since 
the conspiracy of the " Black Eagle " in 1829. The insur- 
rection of the black population in 1844, the conspiracy of 
Narciso Lopez, and his three landings from the United 
States in 1849, 1850, and 1851, respectively, and the revolu- 
tions of 1868 and 1895, have all resulted from wrongs in- 
flicted by an ungrateful mother- country upon a colony 
that had proved in a time of general revolution the most 
loyal of all her dependencies. 

The period of prosperity initiated by Las Casas com- 
pletely ended upon the appearance, in 1836, of Captain- 
Greneral Ta^on, one of the Spanish officers who survived 
defeat in the wars of the South and Central American 
colonies for independence. Soured by previous defeats, 
he inaugurated a system of greed and violence. He has 
been described as " a true type of the Spanish oppressor, 
born with a contempt for everything but force, and hard- 
ened by the omnipotence of his Spanish commission." 

During his term of office he was as severe with native 
Cubans as he was lenient with old Spaniards, who alone 
were appointed to offices of profit or honor.^ This policy 
created the breach between Cubans and Spaniards, which 
has increased with years. 

While this soldier was in full power, news of the con- 
stitution proclaimed in Spain reached Cuba (September 27, 
1836). A move was made by the Cubans to secure their 
just share of the liberties accorded to Spaniards ; but Ta^on 
decreed that no change should be made without his express 

1 Notwithstanding the severity of Talon's administration, he was the only 
captain-general of this century who made public improvements. An English 
writer says that, under the governorship of the celebrated Ta5on, Havana soon 
resumed its foremost position, and was almost entirely rebuilt in stone and 
masonry, whereas hitherto most of the houses had been of wood, thatched with 
straw. If you ask, " Who built that fine edifice?" the answer is invariably, 
"Ta^on." "Yon theater?" "Ta^on." It is literally a case of Trtfon ^'i/i, sw 
e Tagon giu. He is the benevolent Figaro of the place. The wonders which 
he performed in a short time prove clearly that when the island is energetically 
governed it flourishes marvelously. 



GEOGRAPHIC SUBDIVISIONS 67 

orders. Taxation grew from year to year, and persecution 
of the Creole Cubans increased. The Spaniards meanwhile 
profitably prosecuted the slave-trade, notwithstanding that 
the importation of Africans was forbidden by the law of 
1820. In 1848 many arrests were made on suspicion of a 
plot among the slaves about Matanzas against the white 
people. Officers of the permanent military commission 
closely examined many persons ; but, as interrogation failed 
to fix responsibility, the prosecution resorted to torture 
and the block, flogging the unwilling witnesses, who were 
stretched head downward on a ladder. This process, first 
applied to slaves, soon extended to the free colored people, 
and then to the whites. The commission executed, con- 
demned to hard labor, banished, and imprisoned 3076 people. 
This iniquitous proceeding was the cause of the first revo- 
lutionary movements led by Greneral Narciso Lopez in 1849, 
of the expeditions of 1850 and 1851, and of Quitman's ex- 
pedition of 1855. 

After 1851 a party— the forerunner of the present Au- 
tonomists—sprang up, desirous of coming to a settlement 
to insure the rights of the colony without impairing the 
interests of Spain. After protracted efforts it succeeded 
in obtaining an inquiry at Madrid into the reforms needed 
by Cuba ; but the only alteration decreed was a new system 
of taxation, more oppressive than the former. 

After the suppression of the revolts in 1855 another brief 
era of prosperity was inaugurated, and continued until the 
great insurrection of 1868, which lasted ten years. Spanish 
losses during this decade, as reported at the office at Madrid, 
were 208,000 men; Spain's forces against the insurgents, 
257,000 men; Cuban losses, from 40,000 to 50,000 men. 
The outlay on both sides was $300,000,000, while the value 
of property destroyed amounted to an equal sum. 

At the close of this devastating war Cuba had almost 
gained her freedom; but, seduced by the diplomacy of 
Spain, the care-worn leaders laid down their arms under 
promises of autonomy and self-government similar to those 



68 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

used less effectively to quell the revolt of 1895-98. Hardly 
had the insurgents returned to their homes when Spain, 
unmindful of her promises, resumed her tyrannical 
methods of administration and of oppression of the native 
people ; and soon the latter had lost all the prestige gained 
by arms. By 1894, the year before the latest revolution 
began, the despotism of the Spanish officials had become 
more unendurable than ever. During this year of tran- 
quillity the writer, while visiting the island, witnessed with 
amazement the operations of Spain's colonial government, 
administered by a horde of carpet-bag officials upheld by 
vigorous military law, without one thought for the welfare 
of the natives or the improvement of the island. 

The American who undertakes to investigate the history 
of the Spanish government in Cuba inevitably finds the 
details too revolting to be described. Greed, injustice, 
bribery, and cruelty have been practised with such fre- 
quency that volumes could be filled with their horrible de- 
tails. Above all these, however, stands the fact of Spain's 
endeavors to wipe out by butchery and starvation the entire 
native population. The first of these attempts, practised 
in former centuries upon the aborigines, was successful. 

In 1844 over 3000 people were executed. During the 
ten years' war it is estimated that fully 20,000 people suf- 
fered a similar fate. The official records show that 4672 
people were executed during the first half of that war. 
"Women were similarly treated. During the ten years' 
war Captain- General' Valamaseda wrote: "Not a single 
Cuban will remain on this island, because we shoot all 
those we find in the fields, on their farms, and in every 
hovel. . . . We do not leave a creature alive where we 
pass, be it man or animal. If we find cows, we kill them ; 
if horses, ditto ; if hogs, ditto ; men, women, or children, 
ditto. As to the houses, we burn them. So every one 
receives what he deserves— the men with bullets, the 
animals with the bayonet. The island will remain a 
desert." The intentions of this officer were only foiled by 



GEOGEAPHIC SUBDIVISIONS 69 

the arousal of foreign public sentiment against him, and 
his replacement by the humane Greneral Campos, who tried 
to restore peace. The third attempt at extermination, a 
matter of present history, was made by Weyler, who ex- 
pressed sentiments as ferocious as those of Valamaseda. 
The first act of the Spaniards upon the outbreak of the 
present revolution was to arrest, imprison, deport, shoot, 
or otherwise punish every man who was suspected of dis- 
loyalty. This class included all who were suspected of 
liability to become revolutionary sympathizers, such as 
the leading men of the learned professions, — doctors, 
lawyers, editors, and the faculty of the university,— who 
during the past three years have been imprisoned in 
the dungeons of Ceuta, Africa, where 730 leading Cuban 
citizens were recently confined, or upon the Isle of 
Pines. 

How successfully Weyler's policy has been partially 
carried out can be answered by the graves of a fourth 
of the population, which have been recently filled with 
starved or assassinated victims of his cruelty. Had not 
this government raised its voice and demanded his recall, 
the sole remnant of the Cuban people would now have 
consisted of the soldiers of Gomez. 

Since its discovery Cuba has been a crown colony of 
Spain, occupying a relation to that country, so far as the 
absence of local self-government is concerned, comparable 
to that which Alaska occupies to this, but governed by 
military instead of civil authority. Some of the Spanish 
islands, like the Canaries, Balearics, and, until recently, 
Porto Rico, are integral parts of the mother-country, 
having equal rights with the people of the Peninsula. 
Cuba, however, has ever been treated solely as a subordi- 
nate colony. The central and absolute authority of the 
crown has been represented by a governor, called the 
captain-general, controlling the land and sea forces and 
residing at Havana. His authority has been backed, even 
in times of peace, by a Spanish soldiery larger than the 



70 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

standing army of the United States, and with police 
powers unknown in this country. 

Cuba has two high courts; but the captain-general is 
above either court, having the right of setting aside all 
judgments, as appears from the royal decree of June 9, 1878, 
defining his duties and i^rerogatives. His power not only 
overrules decisions of all the judicial authorities, including 
the justices of the court of judicature, but also enables 
him to withhold the execution of any order or resolution 
of the home government " whenever he may deem it best 
for the public interests." 

During the present century the Spanish crown has made 
various pretenses of giving to the inhabitants of the island 
greater political privileges ; but all of these, down to the 
latest autonomy scheme, have been the merest subterfuges, 
void of the true essence of local self-government, with a 
reservation by which absolute and despotic power remained 
in the hands of the Spanish captain-general. Thus it 
was that in February, 1878, the ten years' revolution was 
ended by General Campos. Under the stipulations of the 
treaty the island was allowed to be represented in the 
Spanish Cortes by sixteen senators and thirty deputies; 
but restrictions were so thrown around their selection that 
Cubans were practically debarred from participating in 
the choice of these members, notwithstanding that these 
so-called representatives were utterly powerless to press 
any Cuban measure in a Cortes of over nine hundred 
members, or to put it to a vote. 

While the primary functions of the government have 
been to attend to the prerogatives of the crown and the 
collection of revenues, its attention has been largely de- 
voted to the personal enrichment of the officials through 
misfeasance and to the prevention of the secession of the 
island. It has practically ignored the collection of statis- 
tics, the promotion of education, and the establishment of 
public works and proper public sanitation. Few, if any, 
educational institutions have been erected at public ex- 



GEOGEAPHIC SUBDIVISIONS 71 

pensGj at least since the days of Tagon ; no public highways 
have been constructed, nor have any improvements of a 
public character been made outside of the city of Havana. 
Even when the Cubans have undertaken such improve- 
ments, they have been heavily taxed for the benefit of the 
Spanish officials. The administration of Cuba is, and has 
been since the settlement of the island, an absolute military 
despotism. 

Above all the numerous edicts, decrees, customs, and po- 
lice regulations, the fundamental law of the island is the 
will of the captain-general, enforced by the following decree 
of May 28, 1825, which is still in force, giving to the cap- 
tain-general " the most a-mple and unbounded power, not 
only to send away from the island any persons in office, 
whatever be their occupation, rank, class, or condition, 
whose continuance therein your Excellency may deem in- 
jurious, or whose conduct, public or private, may alarm 
you, replacing them with persons faithful to his Majesty, 
and deserving of all the confidence of your Excellency ; but 
also to suspend the execution of any order whatsoever, or 
any general provision made concerning any branch of the 
administration, as your Excellency may think most suitable 
to the royal service." 

Under this law, which has been utilized with terrible 
effect, misfeasance has developed beyond description, and 
freedom has been a mockery. Year after year the least 
liberty of thought or expression of opinion or suspicion of 
liberal ideas on the part of the individual or the press has 
resulted in imprisonment, death, or deportation. Further- 
more, the elsewhere obsolete punishment of torture has 
added horror to the cruelty of this edict. 

The right of free speech on the part of the individual 
citizen has not only been restricted, but the rigorous press 
law of 1881 requires every editor or manager of a paper to 
send, duly signed by him, two copies of each issue to gov- 
ernment headquarters and two other copies to the district 
attorney as soon as printed, that it may be seen whether 



72 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

any objectionable remarks are contained therein. Nearly 
every publication in Cuba has been suspended at one time 
or another, and its editor- fined, imprisoned, or deported to 
the penal colonies. 

This military despotism has been accompanied by a sys- 
tem of exorbitant taxation, such as has never been known 
elsewhere in the world, including at times an average of 
forty per cent, on all imports, in addition to taxes upon 
real estate, the industries, arts, professions, the slaughtering 
of meats, and a burdensome system of stamp taxes, which 
even included in its far-reaching application the affixing of 
an impost stamp upon every arrival at a hotel. The pro- 
cesses of possible direct taxation being exhausted, the 
government resorted to the establishment of a most nefa- 
rious and contaminating lottery system, which yielded a 
profit of four million dollars annually. 

The profits to the active official classes, not including 
the fruits of bribery, are estimated at about $15,000,000 
annually, besides Cuba's contribution to pensioners in 
Spain— a tidy sum for supporting the luxurious leisure of 
these classes, as the following figures will show. Some of 
the official revenues, one half of which are derived from 
customs, the remainder from numerous species of direct 
taxation, have been: 1825, $5,722,198; 1867, $33,000,000; 
1869, $52,500,000; 1877, $60,000,000; 1879, $54,000,000; 
1884, $34,269,410; estimated revenue for 1893-94, $24,- 
440,759; for 1897-98, $24,755,760. The disposition of 
the $34,269,410 of revenues raised by taxation in 1884 
shows clearly how it was diverted to Spanish profit. Of 
this sum, $12,574,485 was paid for old military debts in- 
curred by Spain in suppressing Cuban outbreaks and 
otherwise riveting the shackles of tyranny upon the 
Cuban people; $5,904,084 for the ministry of war; $14,- 
595,096, or nearly one half the revenue, for supporting 
Spaniards, as follows : pensions of Spanish officers, $468,- 
000; pay of retired Spanish officers, $918,500; salary of 
captain-general, $50,000; salaries of colonial officials (all 




WATER-FRONT, HAVANA BAY 
HAVANA 



GEOGEAPHIC SUBDIVISIONS 73 

Spaniards), $10,115,420 ; church and clergy (all Spaniards), 
$379,757 ; military decorations (to Spaniards only), $5000 ; 
pay of gendarmerie (all Spaniards), $2,537,119 ; expenses 
of Spain's diplomatic representatives to all American 
countries except the United States, $121,300. This left 
$1,195,745 for the ordinary administration of the island, 
such as education, public works, sanitation, the judiciary, 
etc. ; but if any of the sum was so expended, there are no 
visible monuments in evidence of the fact. There is a 
well-grounded suspicion that most of this sum reached the 
pockets of the officials. It may be said that in round 
numbers $26,500,000 have been annually contributed by 
Cuba to the profit of the people of the mother-country, and 
devoted to purposes by which the island has been in no 
way benefited. 

In addition to the legal taxation, the commerce is bur- 
dened by a system of illegal taxation in the form of bribes, 
which are necessary to the securing of any legal action. 
Little or none of this money was devoted to education, 
science, public construction, harbor improvements, high- 
ways, sanitation, or other benevolent purposes, such as 
those to which our free government devotes its per-capita 
tax of $13.65. It is also a remarkable fact, notwithstand- 
ing the extravagant taxation, that only about $100,000,000 
have been remitted to the mother- country during the past 
century, most of the revenue having been diverted to main- 
tain the official classes. It is a common assertion that, 
with the exception of Martinez Campos, no captain-general 
has ever returned to Spain after a four years' intendancy 
except as a millionaire. 

The first generation of Spanish-born immigrants cried as 
loudly in protestation against the exactions of the mother- 
country as do the oldest Creole families. Their commerce 
was restricted; their industrial development prohibited; 
their resources were exhausted; and their health, lives, 
and liberties forfeited to uphold the institutions of an in- 
capable mother-country. Not a single motive of civiliza- 



74 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

tion could be detected in Spain's treatment of this colony 
during the past century. Cuba, under perpetual misgov- 
ernment, has seen her trade decrease, her crops reduced, 
her Creoles deserting to the United States and the Spanish 
republics, and her taxes trebled in vain, to meet the ever- 
increasing expenses and floating debts. England, in the 
wisdom of her government, has distributed colonies 
throughout the world, given them the fullest limit of self- 
government, preserved the patriotism and loyalty of their 
people, opened their commerce to all nations upon equal 
grounds, and demanded of them not one cent of tribute. 
Her colonial system is the highest practical manifestation 
of the civilization of the age. The colonial policy of Spain 
toward Cuba has been the antithesis of this in every 
respect. 

Cuba is divided into two dioceses, which are the arch- 
bishopric of Santiago de Cuba, containing fifty-five par- 
ishes, and the bishopric of Havana, containing one hun- 
dred and forty-four parishes. No Cuban-born priests are 
found in any church of importance. In the cathedral 
chapter at Havana there is only one Cuban, and only two 
natives have ever obtained any especial preferment, the 
miter never. 

The same oppression obtained in thechui'chas in the state, 
the former being used for base ends in many instances, 
and against the protest of the authorities at Eome. While 
nominally Catholics, and so holding that church responsi- 
ble for what they do, many Spaniards in and out of Cuba 
are very poor Catholi<^s, and they commit many acts of 
which the church authorities by no means approve. For 
example, the Cuban native who becomes a Roman Catholic 
priest fares about as badly as does the Protestant preacher. 

There is not a parish on the whole island that supports 
an endowed school. Recently there was a crusade against 
the civil marriage ceremony. The objection came because 
of the loss of fees to the priest. The crusade was led by 
the Spanish-born priests, who charge Cubans twice as much 



GEOGEAPHIC SUBDIVISIONS 75 

as they charge for Spaniards. Parishes are farmed out on 
account of profits— not by the church, but by the Span- 
iards. No priest gets these desirable parishes unless he 
happens to have been born in Spain. It is the Spanish 
blood that contaminates the church, and not the church 
that does the injury. It was partly the Spaniards' acts in 
introducing abuses into the church that brought about the 
latest insurrection. The religious condition of the island 
is as bad as the political. 

Education is still much neglected. The chief educational 
institutions are the Havana University, two professional 
schools, with meteorological observatories attached, one 
agricultural school, and two seminaries. There are several 
private as well as public schools, aggregating in all seven 
hundred and fifty institutions, with some thirty thousand 
students and scholars. 

The Havana University is modeled after the Spanish 
universities, and its curriculum is chiefly devoted to medi- 
cine, law, theology, and an obsolete system of philosophy. 
Its entire faculty was disposed of by imprisonment and 
banishment last year, while the students have always been 
looked upon with a suspicion of sedition. The public 
schools are decidedly few, most of the better classes of 
Cubans patronizing the private institutions. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE EESOUKCES OF THE ISLAND 

Agi'icultural supremacy. The cultivation of sugar. The superior ad- 
vantages of Cuba for sugar-culture. The plantations described. 
Tobacco-culture. The vegas of the Vuelta Abajo. Skill of Cuban 
tobacco-planters. Coffee, fruits, and minor agricultural products. 
Cattle and live stock. Minerals. 

THE principal products of Cuba are agricultural, and 
consist of sugar-cane, tobacco, coffee, bananas, corn, 
oranges, and pines, in the order named. 

The raising of sugar-cane overwhelmingly preponderates, 
and heretofore has been the mainstaj'' of the island. The 
Cuban sugar-lands are all upland soils, quite different from 
the lowlands of Louisiana, and excel in fertility those of 
all the other West Indies. The cane requires to be planted 
only once in seven years, instead of every year, as in Anti- 
gua. No fertilizers are used. The machinery of the estates 
up to the outbreak of the present revolution was the finest 
and most modern in the world. According to statistics 
elsewhere presented, this industry has been almost de- 
stroyed within the last three years. It originated in 1523, 
when a loan of four thousand pesetas to each person wish- 
ing to engage in it was made by King Philip I. The 
whole of the vast central plain and much of the region from 
the Cauto westward to Pinar del Rio, except where broken 
by hills, is one continuous field of cane, which in 1892-93 
yielded 1,054,214 tons, valued at $80,000,000, besides giv- 

76 



THE EESOUKCES OF THE ISLAND 77 

ing employment to large commercial and transportation 
interests. The sugar-plantations vary in extent from one 
hundred to one thousand acres, and employ an average of 
one man to two acres. 

These estates are models in every respect, and possess 
the most scientific and recent inventions for the cultivation 
of the cane and extraction of its juices and their conversion 
into the crystal. The houses and quarters are neatly built, 
and attention is paid to the esthetic and ornamental. On the 
Concepcion estate, for instance, the quarters for the laborers 
are built in the form of a quadrangle, with a fountain in 
the center, at which bathing can be enjoyed ; and there is a 
well- organized hospital for taking care of the sick. There 
is a creche where old women take care of the piccaninnies 
of such mothers as work in the fields. A lovely garden is 
also laid out in a tasteful manner with orange-groves and 
fragrant walks. The great centrals, or grinding plants, are 
enormous establishments, which in the grinding season are 
busy centers of industry. Some of the centrals have over 
forty miles of private railway leading from the fields to 
the mills. 

The superior systems of handling cane and extracting 
the juice have made it possible to continue the profitable 
cultivation of cane-sugar in Cuba, in face of the recent 
competition of beet-sugar, which has so impoverished the 
other islands of the West Indies. Furthermore, the Cuban 
cane contains a larger percentage of sugar than that of any 
other American country except Mexico. 

Cuba, in times of peace, produces about one million tons 
of cane-sugar — more than twice as much as Java, the next 
largest cane-sugar country of the world, and more than five 
times as much as any other cane-sugar country. Among 
the beet-sugar countries it is surpassed only by G-ermany, 
with one and one half million tons, and is equaled only by 
one other, Austria. It must be regarded as a singular 
state of affairs that, while in all the other "West Indian 
Islands, and, in fact, in nearly all cane-sugar countries, the 



78 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

industry is in a desperate state, warranting special com- 
missioners to inquire into its illness and its needs, the 
Cuban industry has gone ahead and prospered under a 
government which pillaged it steadily, and in spite of 
outrageous railroad freights, bad shipping facilities, the 
heart-breaking question of European bounties, and dis- 
crimination to its detriment by American buyers. The rea- 
sons why it has prospered are quite clear. First, the climate 
and soil are admirably adapted to the needs of the cane ; 
secondly, the Spaniards and Cubans have had the courage 
to centralize their sugar-houses and go at the business 
individually, on a scale unequaled in any other country on 
the globe. Old, small places were replaced by powerful 
factories equipped with the best of modern machinery, 
narrow-gage roads were built in all directions, and, in 
short, great sums were spent, and spent well. The main 
essentials of competing with the beet-sugar countries were 
understood and complied with, while the other islands are 
still hesitating. 

The machinery used in the manufacture of sugar on a 
large estate is very extensive. A large central will grind 
one thousand tons of cane in twenty-four hours, or, say, 
one hundred thousand tons in a season of one hundred 
days. A boiler-capacity of twelve to fifteen hundred horse- 
power is necessary to do this, nearly all of which power is 
used for driving the various pumps and engines, the evap- 
oration being performed by the exhaust steam. Such an 
establishment is worth in Cuba about half a million dollars, 
and its annual output is worth about the same amount. 
Three or four locomotives and about one hundred cars are 
necessary to haul the cane, and about one thousand men 
are employed in the field and the works. Besides, one to 
two thousand head of cattle for hauling and slaughtering 
are needed. There are many such establishments in Cuba, 
and there is room for more. 

Tobacco, while secondary to sugar, is far more profitable 
in proportion to acreage. This product grows well in all 




A CAR-LOAD OF SUGAR-CANE, SANTA ANNA 




CUTTING SUGAR-CANE WITH MACHETE 
SCENES IN CUBA 



THE KESOUECES OF THE ISLAND 79 

parts of the island, but the chief seat of its cultivation is 
along the southern slopes of the Sierra de los Organos, 
in Pinar del Eio— the famous Vuelta Abajo region, which 
produces the finest article in the world. Good tobaccos are 
also exported from Trinidad, Cienfuegos, and Santiago. 

The best tobacco-farms are known as vegas. These are 
comprised in a narrow area in the southwest part of the 
island, about eighty miles long by twenty-one in breadth, 
shut in on the north by the" mountains and on the south- 
west by the ocean. These vegas are generally located on 
the margins of rivers, their ordinary size not being more 
than thirty-three acres. About one half of each vega is 
planted in platanos and vegetable gardens for feeding the 
laborers. The usual buildings upon such places are a 
dwelling-house, a drying-house, a few sheds for cattle, and 
perhaps a few small hohios, or huts, for the shelter of the 
hands, who in most cases number twenty or thirty to each 
place, and are the lower class of whites, although some 
negroes are employed. 

The vegas are beautifully kept places, and present to 
the eye a handsome and imposing sight. They are usually 
fenced with deep stone walls and have handsome arched 
gateways, from which avenues of royal palms lead up to 
the residence, which is a roomy house, with porches adapted 
for comfort in this tropical climate. 

The Cuban tobacco-planters have a wonderful intuitive 
knowledge of the delicate processes necessary to growing the 
tobacco-plant and producing the desired results, such as 
increasing its strength or height, or regulating the quan- 
tity of foliage, and guarding against insect pests. The 
plant grows to a height of from six to nine feet. The 
leaves are classified into four kinds, the best of which grow 
near the top of the plant. The poorest quality, known as 
the injuriado, comprises, the lower leaves of the stalk. 
Even this grade is reclassified into three qualities on the 
farm. It is not necessary to enter into the full details of 
the classification of Cuban tobacco. It is sufficient to state 



80 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

that the excellent character which Havana cigars have 
maintained is due largely to the remarkable care with which 
the different qualities of leaf are graded both on the farm 
and in the factories of Havana. 

A vega of average size produces about 9000 pounds of 
tobacco, in the following proportions : about 450 pounds 
of the best quality, 1800 of the second, 2250 pounds of the 
third, and 4500 pounds of the injuriado. This is made up 
into bales of 100 pounds, which bring an average price of 
about $20 per bale, although some of the higher qualities 
bring as much as $400 per bale. 

There are dozens of large cigar-factories in Havana, 
giving employment to thousands of people of both sexes 
and all ages. In 1893, 6,160,000 pounds of leaf tobacco 
and 134,210,000 cigars were exported. Large exports of 
baled tobacco are also made from the east end of the island, 
most of which is sent to the United States. 

Coffee was once extensively exported, having been intro- 
duced by the French from Martinique in 1727; but the 
trees have been mostly cut down and replaced with sugar- 
cane, in consequence of the greater profitableness of that 
product, or destroyed by revolution. The mountain-sides 
and hill-lands of the east are especially favorable for coffee, 
and a quality as excellent as that of the famous Blue 
Mountain coffee of Jamaica can be readily grown. If the 
island should ever be properly developed, this will become 
a large and flourishing industry. There is still a consid- 
erable quantity of coffee grown, but it is nearly all con- 
sumed locally. 

At the beginning of the present revolution the growing 
of bananas was a large and important industry, chieflj'" in 
the vicinity of Nuevitas and Baracoa, at the eastern end of 
the island. Many beautiful plantations of this fruit were 
seen by the writer, in 1895, upon the summits of the cuchil- 
las of the east end, the products of which were conveyed 
by extensive wire trolleys down the cliffs to the sea. Dur- 
ing the season, from February to December, an average of 




HUTS ON SOLEBAD ESTATE, NEAR 
CIENFUEGOS 



HORMIGUERA SUGAR-ESTATE, 
CIENFUEGOS 






'<' 




%^^ 




r 




^^B^^^^MM| 


H 






^ 



PINEAPPLES BANANAS NEAR CIENFUEGOS 

SCENES IN CUBA 



THE EESOUECES OF THE ISLAND 81 

a ship-load a day was exported from Baracoa. This fruit 
was the largest and Jfinest of its kind received in the United 
States. 

Captain John S. Hart of Philadelphia, who had large 
investments in this business, and was one of the largest 
importers of the fruit into the United States, finding his 
business destroyed by the outbreak of the revolution, 
promptly turned his ships into filibusters, and, after land- 
ing many cargoes of arms and ammunition, was eventually 
tried and convicted in a United States court. 

Oranges of delicious flavor grow spontaneously in all 
parts of the island. No attention has been paid to their 
culture for exportation, however, since the development of 
the Florida fruit. Pineapples are grown and exported in 
western Cuba and the Isle of Pines. The island will un- 
doubtedly become one of the greatest fruit-growing coun- 
tries Mahogany, logwood, and fustic are also exported in 
small quantities. About fifty thousand dollars' worth was 
exported from Santiago in 1893. 

In the provinces of Santa Clara, Puerto Principe, and 
Santiago the cattle industry, owing to the fertile grazing- 
lands, reaches large proportions, the product being large 
and fine animals of Spanish stock. Horses are also bred 
in all parts of the island. The Cuban horse is a stout pony, 
probably descended from Spanish stock, with the build of 
a cob, and a peculiar pacing gait which renders it exceed- 
ingly easy to ride. Goats and sheep do not flourish in 
Cuba, the wool of the latter changing into a stiff hair like 
that of the former. Poultry flourishes everywhere and is 
abundant in all markets. 

In addition to the large estates of the planters, the island 
possesses many small farms of less than one hundred acres, 
devoted to fruit, market-garden and dairy products, for 
which there is a local demand. In 1895 there were over 
one hundred thousand farms, ranches, and plantations, 
valued at twenty million dollars. 

The developed mineral resources of the island are iron 



82 CUBA AND POKTO RICO 

ores, asphaltum, manganese, copper, and salt. A little gold 
and silver were mined in past centuries, but never in large 
quantities. In 1827 tlie silver-mines of Santa Clara yielded 
one hundred and forty ounces to the ton, but they were 
soon worked out. There is reason for believing that 
neither silver nor gold will be found in paying quantities. 

Iron ore has thus far proved the chief metallic resource 
of Cuba. The iron-mines are located in the Sierra Maestra, 
a few miles east of Santiago de Cuba, and are of great 
importance. These are owned by American companies, 
which have invested extensive capital in opening them and 
providing railways and piers for the shipment of the ore. 
The ores are mixed brown and red hematite, containing 
from sixty-five to sixty-eight per cent, of pure iron, which 
is considered verj^ rich. They occur in the white lime- 
stone that incrusts the seaward face of the porphyritic and 
granitoid core of the Sierra Maestra up to a height of twenty- 
five hundred feet. The principal producers are the Juragua 
and the Spanish- American companies. The ore is brought 
down from the mines, some fifteen miles away, on railroad- 
tracks to piers at the seaside, where it is loaded upon steam- 
ers and shipped to the Bethlehem, Steelton, and Sparrow 
Point companies of this countrj^, much of it being used for 
the manufacture of armor-plate. Just before the war broke 
out trial shipments of ore had been sent over to England, 
and strong hopes were entertained of establishing an 
extensive trade with that country. It may interest the 
reader to know that Santiago and the iron-mines of Jura- 
gua are the scene of the popular novel, " Soldiers of For- 
tune." 

The pier of the Juragua Company at Baraqui cost two 
hundred thousand dollars, and has facilities for loading 
two- to three-tliousand-ton steamers with ore in less than 
ten hours. The production of this company in 1890 was 
362,068 tons, amounting to one fourth of the total importa- 
tion of iron ores into the United States for the same period. 

Very rich deposits of manganese occur west of Santiago, 



THE EESOUECES OF THE ISLAND 83 

in the Sierra Maestra range, in the neighborhood of Ponupo. 
In 1895 a party of Pennsylvanians organized the Ponupo 
Mining Company and despatched the first ship-load of man- 
ganese ore to Philadelphia. They also completed a short 
railroad to connect with the Cabanilla and Maroto Railroad, 
which gave them rail facilities to Santiago Bay. The 
mines had a capacity of two hundred tons per day, and the 
demand for the ore from the United States was far beyond 
their power to supply. These mines were speedily closed 
by the insurgents, because they yielded a large tonnage 
royalty to Spain. 

Asphaltum {chapapote) of unusual richness occurs be- 
neath the waters of Cardenas Bay and in several other 
parts of the island in beds of late Cretaceous and early 
Eocene age. 

In the vicinity of Cardenas asphaltum of several grades, 
some of superior quality, has long been mined for exporta- 
tion. The deposits, four in number, are all submerged. 
One of these, in the western part of the bay, produces a 
very fine grade of practically pure asphaltum, used in the 
United States for the manufacture of varnish. This has 
been mined for the past twenty-five years by mooring a 
lighter over the shaft, which is from eighty to one hundred 
and twenty-five feet in depth below the water surface, 
varying with the rapidity with which the asphaltum is 
removed and replenished. The asphaltum is loosened by 
dropping a long iron bar with a pointed end from the 
vessel. After a sufficient quantity has been detached a 
common scoop-net is sent down and filled by a naked diver. 
The average quantity obtained is from one to one and 
one half tons daily, which formerly sold in New York for 
from eighty to one hundred and twenty-five dollars per 
ton. The material is very much like cannel-coal in appear- 
ance, but has a much more brilliant luster. 

There are three other mines in this vicinity which pro- 
duce a lower grade of asphaltum, such as is used for pav- 
ing and roofing purposes. The largest of these is the 



84 CUBA AND PORTO KICO 

Constancia, situated near Diana Key, fifteen miles from 
the city of Cardenas. It has been in operation for more 
than twenty- five years, and although probably twenty 
thousand tons have been taken from it, it appears to be 
practically inexhaustible. Small vessels are moored over 
the deposit and loaded by the joint labor of their own 
crews. The deposit lies twelve feet beneath the surface of 
the bay, in an area about one hundi-ed and fifty feet in 
circumference, and appears to be constantly renewed. 

Near Villa Clara an unusually large dej^osit of this min- 
eral occurs, which for forty years has supplied the material 
for making the illuniinating gas of the city. American 
investors bought these mines the year before the revolution, 
and their investment up to date, which would otherwise 
have been profitable, has proved a total loss. The material 
at this locality is in a massive bed, some twelve feet in 
thickness, and resembles lignite. Similar outcrops occur 
between Villa Clara and Cienfuegos. 

Asphaltum no doubt occurs in many other localities, 
notably near Guauabacoa, in Havana province; it has 
frequently been mistaken for coal, which does not exist 
upon the island. 

Copper occurs at many j^laces in Cuba; the writer has 
seen it disseminated in rocks of many localities in the east- 
ern portion of the island. It was mined at the village of 
Cobre, about twelve leagues north of the city of Santiago, 
from 1524 to 1867. The mines of Cobre were once the 
greatest coj^per-producers in the world, and their old per- 
pendicular shafts extend down for a distance of seven hun- 
dred feet. Formerly as much as fifty tons of ore were 
taken out each day, the richer portion of which was broken 
up and shipped to Europe, while the poorer part was 
smelted at the works, giving a])out fourteen per cent, of 
the metal. Tlie books of the American consulate show 
that from 1828 to 1840 an average of from two to three 
million dollars' worth of copper ore was shipped annually 
to the United States from these mines. The extensive 



Ul 
> 

CD 

O 

CO 

> 

H 

M 

O 
« 

o 

CI 







THE EESOURCES OP THE ISLAND 85 

plant of these mines, comprising a large village and a 
railway leading down to Santiago, is still well preserved, 
but the mines are now filled with water and abandoned. 
It is questionable whether they can ever be profitably re- 
opened, and even if they should be, their product, large 
as it seemed in former years, would be trivial in compari- 
son with the enormous output of the mines of the United 
States. It is generally believed that large quantities of 
copper still remain unmined in this locality. 

Salt occurs abundantly along the northern keys. Natu- 
ral salt-pans have been formed along the margin of Cayo 
Romano, consisting of depressions from twelve to sixteen 
inches deep, separated from the sea by coral banks over 
which the waves wash in stormy weather. Then during 
the hot season the accumulated sea-waters are evaporated, 
leaving a perfectly crystallized bay of white salt. These 
natural pans of the Cayo Romano alone might supply far 
more salt than is needed for the ordinary consumption of 
the Cuban population. 

Clays suitable for brick and roofing-tile abound in regions 
where the formations are of a non- calcareous character, 
especially the eastern provinces ; but as brick enters very 
little into Cuban structures, these materials have not been 
extensively developed. 

The universal building-material is limestone and lime 
products, such as plaster and cement, which everywhere 
abound. Silicious sand is rare, the building-sand of 
Havana being fine calcareous granules, the worn and com- 
minuted debris of sea-shells. 

The foregoing practically constitute the known mineral 
resources of Cuba, and I doubt, from my knowledge of 
the island, if any great expectations of others being discov- 
ered can be justified. 



CHAPTER X 

COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION 

Harbors, railways, highways. Sources of wealth. The large commerce 
of the island. Commercial value of the island to Spain. Trade with 
the United States. 

PERHAPS no country in the world is so blessed with, 
harbors as Cuba. Not only are they numerous, but 
many of them are excellent, and afford convenient outlets 
for the iDroducts of the island and easy access for oceanic 
and coastal transportation. They are so conveniently 
situated as regards different portions of the island that the 
trade of Cuba may be said literally to pass out at a hun- 
dred gates. Most of the harbors are pouch-shaped inlets 
indenting the rocky coast, with narrow outlets pointed by 
elevated reef rock. The cause of this peculiar configura- 
tion is undoubtedly the superior resistance of the reef rock 
which forms the coastal points, and the correspondingly 
softer nature of the rocks behind it, out of which the bays 
are cut. Others are variations of this simple form, in which 
the cul-de-sac is modified by many smaller indentations. 

The chief of these harbors on the north coast, beginning 
at the west, are Bahia Honda, Cabanas, Havana, Matanzas, 
Sagua, Nuevitas, Gibara, Nipe, and Baracoa ; and Guanta- 
namo, Santiago de Cuba, Manzanillo, Trinidad, and Cien- 
fuegos, on the south. The last mentioned is said to be one 

86 



COMMEKCE AND TRANSPORTATION 87 

of the finest harbors in the world. Notwithstanding their 
natural excellence, so admirably adapted for anchorage and 
protection from both storm and human invasion, they are 
but little improved, and are often allowed to fill up with 
refuse and sediment. 

The narrowness of the island and the abundance of good 
harbors make nearly all parts of it convenient to maritime 
transportation. Not only Havana, but Cabanas, Cienfue- 
gos, and Santiago are regularly visited by American, 
French, and Spanish lines of steamers, while coastal steam- 
ers circumnavigate the island, touching at the minor ports, 
which are also sought by many tramp steamers and sail- 
ing-vessels in search of cargoes. 

The shipping-trade, both foreign and coastal, is exten- 
sive, the American tonnage alone amounting to one million 
per annum. About twelve hundred ocean vessels, steam 
and sail, annually clear from Havana, while the sugar-crop 
finds outlets at all the principal ports. Lines of steamers 
coast the island, the north coast being served from Havana 
and the south from Batabano, the southern entrepot of 
Havana. The tonnage of Havana and eight other ports, for 
1894, amounted to 3,538,539 tons, carried by 3181 vessels. 

Although Cuba is so situated geographically as to com- 
mand the commerce of the entire American Mediterranean, 
trade and communication with the adjacent regions, other 
than Mexico, have been neither cultivated nor encour- 
aged. To reach any of the adjacent islands, such as 
Jamaica,— each less than one hundred miles distant, — it is 
usually necessary for the Cuban to proceed first to New 
York and thence to his destination. A perpetual quaran- 
tine appears to exist against the island on the part of all 
the neighboring West Indies, especially the English islands. 
The completeness with which Cuba is isolated commercially 
is illustrated by the fact that not even the Havana cigar, 
the most far-reaching of its products, can be found in any 
of the Caribbean cities, except those to the east in the track 
of European steamers plying to Havana. 



88 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

The public railways of Ciiba aggregate about one thou- 
sand miles, a larger part of which is comprised in the 
United System of Havana, extending from that city west 
and east through the tobacco and sugar districts of the 
Vuelta Arriba and Yuelta Abajo, and connecting it within 
a day's ride with the principal cities west of Cienfuegos 
and Sagua la Grande. The western terminus of this sys- 
tem is Pinar del Rio, one hundred and six miles from 
Havana; the eastern terminus, Villa Clara, is about one 
hundred and fifty miles distant. One of the lines of this 
system runs due south across the island from Havana to 
Batabano, for the purpose of making connections with the 
south-coast steamers at that point. Other short lines run 
to Marianao and Las Playas, eight miles west, and to Grua- 
najay. 

There are practically two parallel lines from Havana tO' 
Colon and Matanzas. The more northern is used for through 
passenger service. The southern line serves the important 
towns in the southern sugar district, such as Bejucal, San 
Felipe, Guines, La Catalina, La Union, and Corral Falso. 
Lines also extend southward from Matanzas to La Union, 
and from Cardenas to Murga; from Cardenas to Yagua 
Ramas ; from La Isabella, at the mouth of the Rio Sagua la 
Grande, by way of the town of Sagua la Grande to Santo 
Domingo and Cruces, and from Palmira to Cienfuegos. 

Another east-and-west sj^stem, nearly one hundred miles 
in extent, runs from Caibarien to Cifuentas, within ten 
miles of the Sagua la Grande branch of the United Sys- 
tem of Havana. If this gap were closed the total east- 
ward extension of railways from Havana would be nearly 
two hundred and fifty miles. 

In the portion of the island east of a line drawn from 
Sagua la Grande to Cienfuegos are numerous short, inde- 
pendent lines running from seaports to the interior. The 
largest of these is the Caibarien sj^stem above enumerated, 
which has many small branches. On the opposite or south 
coast another short road of less than twenty miles runs 



m 




MORRO CASTLE FROM THE EAST 




PANORAMA OF THE PRADO 



HAVANA 



COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION 89 

from Casilda through Trinidad northward. East of this 
longitude an independent road twenty-five miles long con- 
nects the interior city of Sancti Spiritus with Las Tunas. 
Just opposite on the north coast are five short lines, two 
of which have ramifying branches radiating out from the 
town of Yaguajay. Still eastward a military line thirty- 
two miles long runs north and south across the island along 
the Moron- Jucara trocJia. The next railway is encountered 
fifty miles east of the latter, running in an east direction 
for thirty miles between Puerto Principe and the sea-coast 
near Nuevitas. Prom the latter place through the eastern 
part of Puerto Principe and Santiago provinces no railways 
are found until reaching Santiago de Cuba, on the south 
coast, from which three short lines radiate : one northwest 
to the village of Cobre, ten miles distant; another due 
north twenty miles to San Luis; and another eastward 
along the coast toward the Juragua iron-mines. The most 
eastern railway of Cuba connects the city of Gruantanamo 
with the suburb of Jamaica, six miles north, and La Cai- 
manera, the seaport, about ten miles south. 

The train service from Havana, so far as the first- and sec- 
ond-class coaches are concerned, is good, the cars usually 
being American-built, and upholstered with wicker seats, 
in harmony with the climate, and the officials attentive and 
accommodating. 

On the various sugar-estates narrow-gage roads are in 
extensive use for the handling of cane, and often form 
means of communication with the interior in connection 
with coasting-steamers and the broad-gage roads. These 
narrow-gage roads are of much greater extent than might 
be supposed. The large estate called Constancia, for in- 
stance, has more than forty miles of such road, and many 
have more than twenty miles. 

G-ood highways are both short and few. It is a bitter 
comment on Spanish rule to point out that common roads 
for wheeled vehicles hardly exist, except in the near vicinity 
of the larger towns. In past centuries a few good roads 



90 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

of the class called camino del rey ("the king's highway") 
were established, leading from Havana into Pinar del Rio, 
and from a few interior cities to their entrepots. A more 
or less continuous highway of this kind also extends 
through the interior from Havana to Santiago. The 
"royal road" is merely a broad strip of country, some- 
times fenced by cactus and barbed wire, and passable on 
horseback or by ox- carts in the dry season. Aside from 
these roads, which were absolute necessaries, the govern- 
ment has constructed but few highways leading into the 
country through or around the island, and hence inland 
communication is much impeded. Had a more far-sighted 
policy of road-construction been undertaken, such as has 
been carried out by England in the adjacent island of 
Jamaica, Spain would have been in less danger of losing 
her colony, the lack of good military roads having been 
one of the factors which have made possible the success of 
the present revolution. The city streets are usually fair, 
and many pleasant suburban drives are possible. The 
only time in which hauling can be done to any extent is 
during the long dry season, when the field-roads made by 
the sugar- and tobacco-estates can be traversed by great 
two-wheeled carts with four oxen. Two days of rain stop 
traffic in all directions. The opportunity for the building 
of common roads is large, and in most places there is plenty 
of stone for the purpose. The roads cross rivers, etc., by 
fords which are impassable soon after the rains set in ; and 
although the streams are neither large nor very numerous, 
the necessity for bridges is great. 

There were about 2810 miles of telegraph line in ].895, 
including nearly 1000 miles of cable, connecting the cities 
of the south coast and the Isle of Pines with Havana via 
Batabano. 

Foreign cables run from Havana to Key West (two 
lines), from Santiago to Jamaica, these connecting with the 
British cables to Bermuda, Halifax, and Europe, and from 
Guantanamo to Mole St. Nicolas, connecting with Porto 



COMMERCE AND TEANSPOETATION 91 

Rico, the Windward Islands, and South America; and to 
New York via Cape Haitien. Nearly all of these cables 
were cut by the Americans, as a war measure, early in the 
summer of 1898, in order to isolate the Spanish forces on 
the island. 

Before the latest war broke out, the wealth and commerce 
of Cuba were derived from one hundred thousand ranches, 
farms, and plantations, valued at $200,000,000, which, 
besides supplying the food necessities of the island, with 
the exception of salt meats and breadstuffs, yielded a sur- 
plus valued at $90,000,000 for export. This consisted 
mainly in enormous products of sugar and tobacco, which 
constituted ninety per cent, of the total exports. The 
product of sugar in the fiscal year 1892-93 amounted to 
815,894 tons ; in 1893-94, 1,054,214 tons ; in 1894-95, 1,004,- 
264 tons ; and in 1895-96, 225,221 tons ; all of which, except 
30,000 tons per annum, was exported. 

The commerce of Cuba is large in proportion to the 
population. It consists of exports of raw material. The 
imports are largely foods, machinery, hardware, leather 
goods, woodenware, and all kinds of manufactured articles 
used by a people who manufacture nothing. 

The commerce of the island is best illustrated by a nor- 
mal year. In 1892 the exports were valued at $89,500,000 ; 
the imports at $56,250,000. The balance of trade in favor 
of the island was, therefore, $33,250,000. This could be 
maintained under ordinary conditions of government, and 
increased by creating trade with adjacent islands. Of the 
exports $85,000,000 were classified as vegetable, $3,500,000 
as mineral, and $750,000 as animal. The vegetable exports 
included 241,300 bales of tobacco (one bale=110 pounds), 
155,000,000 cigars, and 1,000,000 tons of sugar. The minor 
exports included under the above heads were : rum (10,000 
pipes), beeswax, bananas, honey, mahogany and other 
woods, valued in all at $2,000,000. 

The essentials of this commerce are : (1) a large balance 
of trade in favor of the island ; (2) the preponderating con- 



92 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

sumption of the exports by tlie United States; (3) the 
division of the imports between the United States, Great 
Britain, and Spain (the trade with the latter being main- 
tained by discriminative duties against the other coun- 
tries) ; (-i) the absence of trade with the neighboring re- 
gions — except the United States — of which the island is 
the natural commercial center. 

The financial value of Cuba to Spain has been in the ab- 
sorption of all the balance of trade by Spanish merchants, 
and the personal profits derived by the Spanish civil and 
military officials. Although Spanish trade with Cuba has 
been gradually declining, its value in the past is shown by 
the fact that, in 1854, Spain's exports to Cuba exceeded 
those sent in 1792 to all her American colonies, which then 
included nearly half the settled hemisphere. The gain of 
the merchants of recent times included the profits to the 
shoppers of Cadiz and Barcelona, who sent annually to 
Cuba articles valued at $25,000,000, and those to the local 
merchants, who absorbed annually the $30,000,000 repre- 
senting the balance of trade in Cuba's favor. 

In addition to the personal enrichment of intransigent 
Spanish citizens, pensioners, and officials, during the pres- 
ent century, Cuba has contributed immense sums directly 
to the Spanish treasury. Over $5,000,000 was officially 
given to the Peninsula during the Napoleonic wars, be- 
sides personal contributions from the islanders of the same 
amount. From 1827 to 1864 an aggregate of $89,000,000 
was sent in annual instalments, reaching, in 1860, as high 
as $29,500,000. Spain may have spent these sums and 
more in the maintenance of her authority over the island ; 
but this should be charged to her own account rather than 
to that of Cuba. Since 1867, little or no money has been 
contributed to the royal treasury ; but the Spaniards have 
still continued individually to profit enormously by the 
salary list and compulsory trade regulations. 

It is estimated that the United States consumes from 
eighty to ninety per cent, of the entire exports of Cuba ; 



COMMEECE AND TRANSPORTATION 93 

in fact, nearly everything the island produces except some 
of the cigars, which are world-wide in their distribution. 
In return for this outlay, however, Cuba purchases only 
one fourth of her goods from this country, including prin- 
cipally necessaries which cannot be procured from Spain. 
Furthermore, our trade with Cuba is restricted by the fact 
that we are the only nation of commercial importance 
against which the rates of the maximum tariff are enforced. 
As these rates are in some cases much higher than the 
conventional duties granted the second- and third-class 
tariffs, our products have to that extent been placed at a 
disadvantage. 

The trade of the United States with Cuba, which has 
recently been summarized by Mr. John Hyde, statistician, 
reached its high- water mark in 1892-93, when it amounted 
to $102,310,600, the ratio of imports, $78,706,506, to exports, 
$23,604,094, being approximately as 10 to 3. This total 
was almost equal to that of our entire Asiatic trade, was 
nearly four times that of our trade with China or Japan, 
and thirteen times that of our trade with Eussia, while it 
even exceeded the grand total of that with Austria-Hungary, 
Eussia, Sweden and Korway, Denmark, Turkey, Greece, 
Italy, Switzerland, and Portugal combined. Nor does this 
contrast derive its strength mainly from the largeness of 
the imports. The exports themselves, products of our own 
country, were nearly twice as great in point of value as 
our exports to Italy, over three times as great as those to 
China and Japan combined, nearly six times as great as 
those to Sweden and Norway, and over ten times as great 
as those to Russia ; they amounted to almost half as much 
again as our total exports to Asia, and even exceeded our 
total exports to South America, exclusive of Brazil. 

So much for the aggregate. What of the different items 
of which it is composed ? These may best be considered in 
detail if presented in tabular form, and the accompanying 
tables will accordingly show the principal exports to the 
United States from Cuba and the principal imports of 



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COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION 95 

domestic merchandise from the United States to that island 
for the ten years ending June 30, 1897. 

The principal article exported is sugar, the largest ex- 
portation of which was in the fiscal year 1893-94, when 
it amounted to 949,778 tons of 2240 pounds, or over 
1,000,000 tons of 2000 pounds. This was equivalent to 
thirty pounds or more per capita of our population, and 
constituted about one half of our total consumption. The 
next item in importance is tobacco, the exports of which 
reached their highest figures in 1895-96, when they 
amounted in point of value to considerably more than 
one third of the total value of our own tobacco-crop. The 
only other class of exports that calls for special mention 
consists of fruit and vegetables, which had a value in 1892- 
93 of nearly $2,500,000. 

The principal articles imported from the United States 
are, as will be seen from the table, meats, breadstuffs, and 
manufactured goods, the trade in all of which articles was 
rapidly assuming very large dimensions at the outbreak of 
the insurrection. Coal, coke, and oils were also imported 
in considerable quantities ; indeed, so diversified were our 
exports that there is no considerable section of the entire 
country that was not to a greater or less degree benefited 
by the market for our agricultural, mineral, and manufac- 
tured products that existed in Cuba. 

Between 1893-94 and 1896-97, however, our imports from 
. Cuba suffered a decline of 75.7 per cent., and our exports to 
the island a decline of 61.7 per cent., the imports being re- 
duced to less than one fourth and the exports to little more 
than one third of their previous volume. During the first 
year of the insurrection our trade fell off over $30,000,000, 
during the second year a further sum of $18,000,000, and 
during the third year a still further sum of $21,000,000, 
making a total decline of $69,000,000 in the annual value 
of our foreign trade, and of a branch of it, moreover, that 
is carried almost entirely in American bottoms. 

Is it any wonder that, entirely aside from the humani- 



96 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

tarian considerations that have prompted the United States 
government to seek to put an end to the unfortunate con- 
ditions so long prevailing in the island, some justification 
for such intervention should have been found in the well- 
nigh total paralysis of our commercial relations with that 
once extensive and profitable market ! 




A COUNTRY HOUSE 




PEASANT HOLDING A WOODEN PLOW 

SCENES IN CUBA 



/ 



CHAPTER XI 

THE PEOPLE OF CUBA 

[isconceptions concerning the people of Cuba. Degrees and variety of 
people. The five classes of people. The Spaniards and other foreign- 
ers. The white Cubans. Effects of disenfranchisement and conscrip- 
tions. Hospitality and courtesy. Strong family attachments. The 
Cuban women. The laboring classes. The colored and black popula- 
tion. No danger of negro supremacy. 

PERHAPS there is no question which it is so dif&cult 
to determine as that of the population of Cuba. It is 
impossible to obtain accurate statistics, owing to the fact 
that no reliable census has been taken by the government 
lor many decades. All figures which may be presented are 
p.ntelligent estimates, and great variation is found in those 
jiven by different authorities. 
The latest census of Cuba, published December 31, 1887, 
ives the population as follows : ^ 



PEOVINCES. 


AEEA, SQ. 
KM. 


WHITE. 


COLOEED. 


TOTAL. 


PEE 

CENT. OF 

COL'D 

EACE. 


DEN- 
SITY. 


Havana 


8,610 
8,486 
14,967 
23,083 
32,341 
35,119 


344,417 
167,160 
143,169 
244,345 
54,232 
157,980 


107,511 

58,731 
116,409 
109,777 

13,557 
114,399 


451,928 
225,891 
259,578 
354,122 
67,789 
272,379 


24 
26 

45 
31 
20 
42 


52.49 


Pinar del Rio 


26.62 


Matanzas 


17.34 


Santa Clara 


15.34 


Puerto Principe 

Santiago de Cuba 


2.10 
7.76 


Total 


122,606 


1,111,303 


520,384 


1,631,687 


Av. 
32 


Av. 




13.31 



1 Published in No. 3, vol. xi, of the "Kevista de Cuba." 
97 



98 



CUBA AND POETO EICO 



The population of the principal towns in 1892 has been 
estimated as follows : 



TOWNS. 


POPULA- 
TION. 


TOWNS. 


POPULA- 
TION. 




Havana 

Guanabacoa ^ 

Eegla 1 


200,000 
29,790 
11,280 
27,000 
21,770 
20,400 
23,680 


C Puerto Principe . . 

o«.rai Sj'Iplri.u::: 

[ Trinidad 

( Santiago 

East. . . < Holguin .... 


46,640 
27.430 
32,600 


West \ 


Matanzas 


27,640 




Pinar del Rio 

Colon 


71,300 
34,760 




Cardenas 


( Manzanillo 


23,200 









The population of Cuba previous to the late insui'rection 
was about the same as that of Vermont, Virginia, North 
Carolina, or Wisconsin, and averaged about thirty-six to the 
square mile. 

The quality and character of the inhabitants of Cuba 
have been so variously pictured during the recent years of 
conflict that the public mind has been greatly confused on 
this subject. The Spanish legation to the United States 
naturally endeavored to present the character of the Cuban 
people in its worst light. Furthermore, the North Ameri- 
can business men and tourists who visit the island are 
prone to judge superficially its inhabitants by the lack of 
outward appearances of energy which is everywhere found 
in the tropics. I fear,, therefore, that my estimates of the 
Cubans may not be in harmony with many current im- 
pressions, but I shall endeavor to judge them as fairly as 
possible in the light of a broad experience with the varied 
people of all parts of the Union and of the other West 
Indian Islands and Spanish- American countries. 

Contrary to what has been represented, we have found 
them as a class neither ignorant nor lazy. The higher 
classes, as in New England, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and 
Louisiana, are gentlemen of education and refinement, 

1 Subui-b of Havana. 



THE PEOPLE OP CUBA 99 

skilled in agriculture, and often learned in the arts and pro- 
fessions. Some dwell in picturesque cities, the largest of 
which, Havana, with the refinement and gaiety of a Euro- 
pean capital, has a population numerically equal to that 
of Washington. Santiago, the eastern city of picturesque 
villas, is (or was) as populous as Atlanta, Nashville, Lowell, 
or Fall River. There are many other cities, each with more 
than twenty-five thousand inhabitants. The remainder 
live upon over one hundred thousand farms, ranches, and 
plantations. 

The people of Cuba may be classified into five distinct 
groups, as follows: white Cubans, black Cubans, colored 
Cubans, Spaniards, including officials and intransigents,^ 
and foreigners other than Spanish. The white Cubans are 
the owners of the soil; the black and colored form the 
laboring classes ; the Spanish officials, the governing class ; 
the Spanish intransigents, the commercial class ; while the 
other foreigners are birds of passage whose interests in the 
island are purely financial. 

It is difficult to ascertain or even estimate the numerical 
proportion of these classes to one another. The entire 
foreign element, exclusive of about thirty thousand Chinese 
males and the army, probably does not exceed one hundred 
thousand people. The civilian foreigners, in most cases, 
are estimable people, the better class of whom are engaged 
in banking, trade, and sugar-planting. They have no other 
interest in the welfare of the country than gain of wealth, 
and have no intention of permanent residence. Hence 
they should not be considered in any manner as represen- 
tative of the Cuban people, although their voice has^ in 
recent political events, almost drowned that of the true in- 

1 To the Cubans the foreign Spanish are known as "intransigents," a local 
word signifying transients. Between the two classes, governors and the gov- 
erned, owing to the despotism of the former, a bitter hatred has existed since 
1812, and has been more strongly accentuated since the surrender of Zanjon, 
in 1878, when the rebellious Cubans laid down their arms under unfulfilled 
promises of autonomy and local self-government, similar to schemes lately 
presented. 



100 CUBA AND PORTO KICO 

habitants. In addition to the army of soldiers, there is a 
vast horde of subordinate officials, all Spaniards, who col- 
lect the customs and attend to other minor executive duties. 

The lower classes of the Spanish male population of 
Havana — porters, draymen, and clerks — are organized into 
a dangerous and oftentimes uncontrollable military force, 
known as the Volunteers, who, while never having been 
known to take the field, are a serious menace to the peace 
of the city, being feared equally by the authorities, over 
whose heads they hold the threat of mutiny, and by the 
resident and unarmed Cubans, over whom they hold the 
threat of massacre. Up to date the record of this organ- 
ized mob has been a series of horrible crimes, such as 
shooting down a crowd of peaceable citizens as they 
emerged from the theater, firing into the office and din- 
ing-room of a hotel, assaulting the residences of Cuban 
gentlemen, and in 1871 forcing the authorities to execute 
forty-three medical students, all boys under twenty, be- 
cause one of them had been accused of scratching the glass 
plate on a vault containing the remains of a Volunteer. 
Fifteen thousand Volunteers witnessed with exultation this 
ignoble execution. 

Although of Spanish blood, the Cubans, through adap- 
tation to environment, have become a different class from 
the peoj)le of the mother-country, just as the American 
stock has become differentiated from the English. Under 
the influence of their surroundings, they have developed 
into a gentle, industrious, and normally peaceable race, not 
to be judged by the combativeness which they have de- 
veloped under a tyranny such as has never been imposed 
upon any other people. The better class of Camagueynos,^ 
as the natives of the interior are fond of calling themselves, 
aside from the customary number of idlers and spoiled sons 
of wealthy parents one sees in Havana, are certainly the 
finest, the most valiant, and the most independent men 
of the island, while the women have the highest type of 

1 From Camaguey, the Cuban name of an east-central province. 



THE PEOPLE OF CUBA 101 

beauty. It is their boast that no Cuban woman has ever 
become a prostitute, and crime is certainly rare among 
them. 

While the local customs, habits, and religion of these 
people are entirely different from ours, owing to race and 
environment, they have strong traits of civilized character, 
including honesty, family attachment, hospitality, polite- 
ness of address, and a respect for the golden rule. While 
numerically inferior to the annual migration of Poles, 
Jews, and Italians into the eastern United States, against 
which no official voice is raised, they are too far superior to 
these people to justify the fears of those who have been 
prejudiced by the thought that they might by some means 
be absorbed into our future population. 

No cause in history has been more just than theirs, no 
self-sacrificing heroism greater, and yet the world, during 
all the agitation of the past three years, has known little 
of them, so completely have they been cut off from com- 
munication, while the little which has been heard has found 
its outlet through the stronghold of their enemies. 

Notwithstanding the disadvantages of disenf ranch ise- 
ment and conscription of estates under which the Cubans 
have labored, they have contributed many members to the 
learned professions. To educate their sons and daughters 
in the institutions of the United States, England, and 
France has always been the highest ambition of the Creoles 
of Cuba. The influence of their educated men is felt in 
many countries, a most distinguished professor of civil 
engineering, two leading civil engineers of our navy, and 
the most eminent authority on yellow fever in our country 
belonging to this class. Among the Cubans of the past 
who have distinguished themselves in literature, science, 
and art may be mentioned Heredia, Ramon, Zambeau, the 
famous medical scientist, Teresa Montes de Occa, an ad- 
mirable poetess, and Gertrudis Gromez de Avellaneda, an- 
other delightful lyrist. Thousands of these people, driven 
from their beloved island, have settled in Paris, London, 



102 CUBA AND POKTO KICO 

New York, Mexico, and the neigboring West Indies, where 
they hold honorable positions in society; and even the 
exiles of the lower classes, with their superior agricultural 
arts, have been eagerly welcomed in places like Jamaica, 
Mexico, and Florida, which hope to share with Cuba the 
benefits of tobacco-culture. 

The Cubans, however, as a class, high and low, are a 
simple-hearted people, hospitable to all strangers, especially 
Americans. The men of the better classes are well bred 
and educated, and even the peasantry have a kindliness and 
courtesy of manner that might put to blush the boorish 
manners of some of our own people ; and while the young 
men of the cities do not seem to attain to a very full size 
or robust development, some of the finest-formed and best- 
developed men, particularly on the Isle of Pines, are to be 
seen among the peasantry. Owing to the influence of the 
climate and also the peculiarities of their government, 
which offers no paths of ambition to the aspiring youth, the 
men are generally listless, indifferent, and lacking in the 
energy peculiar to people farther north. 

Hazard has correctly said that a more kind-hearted, 
hospitable people than the Cubans, particularly to los 
Americanos^ it would be difficult to find. No trouble is 
too great for them if you can make them understand what 
you desire. Many of them speak English, more speak 
French, which in fact is the household language of the 
island, and many of the young men have been educated in 
the United States. 

The Cuban woman to the manner born is a very fascinat- 
ing creature. She is elegant, walks gracefully, has pretty 
features, beautiful eyes and hair, and fine teeth. Coquettish 
as a young girl, she is generally both devoted and blame- 
less as a wife and mother. 

Family ties are stronger among the Cubans than with us, 
and the affection and pride of relationship please every 
stranger who gains admission to the households of the 
people. The marriage rite is encouraged and observed on 




A CUBAN TYPE 



THE PEOPLE OF CUBA ' 103 

this island, and while the men as a class are no more con- 
tinent than in Southern climates generally, the women, as 
a rule, are loyal and virtuous. This respect for the mar- 
riage tie alone shows the superiority of the Cuban charac- 
ter over that of the French and English West Indian 
colonies, where, as we will show, illegitimate births are the 
rule and not the exception. 

The Cubans are mostly found in the provinces and pro- 
vincial cities, especially in Pinar del Rio and the eastern 
provinces of Santa Clara, Puerto Principe, and Santiago. 
Seventy-five per cent, of the native population of the isl- 
and is found outside of the Spanish capital of Havana, 
which, being the seat of an unwelcome foreign despotism, 
is a place where the full expression of Cuban life and char- 
acter is held in subjection. While the Havanese have had 
the freest communication with the United States during 
the last three years of the revolution, Americans have had 
little opportunity to hear from the true white Cuban 
population. 

The laboring classes on the sugar-plantations are largely 
negroes and Spanish peasants, many of the latter having 
been introduced since the ten years' war and the abolition 
of slavery. After the emancipation of the negroes in 1878, 
like the Southern States and the other West Indies, Cuba 
had to undergo a reorganization of its industrial system ; 
and it may be said, to its credit, that the change was ac- 
companied by far less distress and social debasement than 
in the other regions mentioned. At first, in the universal 
fear that the freedmen would not work, coolies and Chinese 
were imported in large numbers ; but the former soon re- 
turned home, and the importation of the latter did not long 
continue, although a large remnant of them still remains 
upon the island. 

In addition to the white creole population, thirty-two per 
cent, are black or colored — using the latter word in its cor- 
rect signification, of a mixture of the black and white races. 
This black population of Cuba has been as little under- 



104 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

stood in this country as has been the Creole, especially by 
those who have alleged that in case Cuba should gain her 
freedom the island would become a, second Haiti. The 
black and colored people of the island, while low as a class, 
are more independent and manly in their bearing, if not as 
literate, as their brethren of the United States, having 
possessed, even before slavery was abolished on the island,, 
the four rights of free marriage, of seeking a new master 
at their option, of purchasing their freedom by labor, and 
of acquiring property. While the negro shares with the 
Creole the few local rights possessed by any of the inhabi- 
tants, his social privileges are greater than here, although 
a strong caste feeling exists. Miscegenation has also pro- 
duced many mulattos, but race mixture is no more com- 
mon than in this country. 

The colored people of Cuba belong to several distinct 
classes. The majority of them are descendants of slaves 
imported during the present century, but a large number, 
like the negroes of Colombia and the maroons of Jamaica, 
come from a stock which accompanied the earliest Spanish 
settlers, such as Estevan, the negro, who, with the two 
white companions of Cabeza de Vaca, first crossed the 
United States from the Gulf of Mexico to California in 
1528-36. The amalgamation of this class in the past cen- 
tury with the Spanish stock produced a superior class of 
free mulattos of the Antonio Maceo type, unlike any people 
in this country with which they can be compared. The 
current expressions of fear concerning the future relations 
of this race in Cuba seem inexplicable. The slaves of the 
South were never subjected to a more abject ser^dtude than 
the free-born whites of Cuba, for they at least were pro- 
tected from arbitrary capital punishment, imprisonment 
and deportation without form of trial, such as all white 
Cubans are still liable to. 

Another virtue of the Cuban negro is that he will work. 
We italicize the masculine pronoun, because, as we will 
later show, the male negro of the other West Indies, ex- 



i 



THE PEOPLE OF CUBA 105 

cept Porto Eico, usually occupies the same indolent posi- 
tion in human society as that ordinarily attributed to the 
drone of the beehive. In Cuba he works the cane-fields, 
loads the ships, carries burdens, and performs all of the 
harder tasks of manual labor not as yet usurped by 
woman in the United States, but completely monopolized 
by her sex in the other West Indies. I do not mean to 
say that many of his race are not depraved or dissipated, 
as elsewhere, but I am of the opinion that the Cuban 
darky is the equal as a laborer of his brother in our 
Southern States, and superior to the darkies of the other 
West Indian Islands. 

The experiences of the past have shown that there is no 
possibility of Cuba becoming Africanized without constant 
renewal by immigration. The five hundred and twenty 
thousand people of African descent, one half of whom are 
mulattos, represent the diminished survival of over one 
million African slaves that have been imported. The Span- 
iards had the utmost difiiculty in acclimating and estab- 
lishing the black man. While Jamaica and other West 
Indian Islands are a most prolific negro-breeding ground, 
the race could not be made to thrive in Cuba. 

Those persons who undertake to say what the social con- 
ditions of Cuba would be under independence should look 
elsewhere than to Haiti for a comparison. Even were the 
population of Cuba black, as it is not, the colony of Jamaica 
would afford a much better contrast. This island, only 
about one tenth the size, and composed of mountainous 
lands like the least fertile portion of Cuba, has a population 
wherein the blacks outnumber the whites forty-four to one ; 
yet, under the beneficent influence of the English colonial 
system, its civilization is one of a much higher scale, pos- 
sessing highways, schools, sanitation, and other public im- 
provements equal to those of our own country, and such 
as have never been permitted by Spain in Cuba. 

Another fact which will stand against the Africanizing 
of Cuba is that it is highly probable that many of these five 



106 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

hundred thousand colored people have been destroyed dur- 
ing the latest insurrection. A large number of them had 
but recently been released from the bonds of slavery, and 
were naturally the poorer class, upon which the hardships 
have mostly fallen, being generallj^ the field-hands in the 
sugar districts of Havana, Matanzas, and Santa Clara, 
where the death-rate of the terrible Weyler reconcentra- 
miento has been greatest. Three hundred thousand of the 
five hundred thousand blacks belonged to these provinces, 
and of this number fully one half have been starved to 
death. 

The population of Cuba has undergone great modifica- 
tion since the collection of the statistics given. Probably 
it has been reduced to not more than a million inhabitants 
by emigration of non-combatants, destruction in battle, 
official deportation of suspects and political prisoners, and 
by the reconcentration system. The rural population of 
the four western provinces of Pinar del Rio, Havana, 
Matanzas, and Santa Clara has been largely obliterated. 
Estimates of this extermination are all more or less con- 
jectural, but the Bishop of Havana is authority for the 
statement that more than four hundred thousand people 
have been buried in the consecrated cemeteries. 



CHAPTER XII 

CUBAN CITIES: HAVANA 

Large number of cities ia proportion to population, Havana and adjacent 
towns. Imposing appearance from the sea, and picturesque location. 
The bay and shipping. Prevalent building-material and type of archi- 
tecture. The central plaza. European aspect of the city. The Prado. 
Notable structures. Tomb of Columbus. Charitable institutions. 
Homes and private dwellings. The business streets. Street-cars and 
carriages. Places of recreation. Pinar del Rio. Cabanas and Mariel. 

CUBA has a number of interesting cities and towns. 
The principal of these are Havana, Matanzas, Pinar 
del Eio, Cardenas, Puerto Principe, Cienfuegos, Santo Es- 
piritu, Trinidad, Santiago, Holguin, and Manzanillo. 

The number of cities seems large in proportion to the 
area and general population, and one wonders, especially 
in view of the absence of industrial establishments which 
would naturally segregate population, why in such a pic- 
turesque land so many people dwell in towns where un- 
sanitary conditions prevail, and the houses, especially of 
the poor, are usually overcrowded. There are several rea- 
sons. In the first place, the people are naturally sociable 
and gregarious. The prevalent masonry construction is also 
expensive, and it is much easier for the poor man to oc- 
cupy a house already built, although centuries old, than to 
pay for the erection of a new one. Furthermore, from the 
earliest days of settlement the town-dwelling habit has been 

107 



108 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

the result of defensive necessity, and populations have 
found, during the many attacks both from without and 
within, that no better place of security could be found than 
the thick walls of the city houses. The ten years' insur- 
rection also resulted in destroying most of the country 
homes of Cuba. 

Havana, which bears upon its escutcheon, Llave del Niievo 
Mtmdo, the "Key of the New World," as it was named 
by Diego Velasquez, the first governor of Cuba, is the 
political capital and principal city of Cuba. It is a pictur- 
esque and beautiful place, presenting, even in the midst 
of the most horrible tragedy of the century, the gay ap- 
pearance of a European city. It should be remembered 
that in population, interest, customs, and dominant politi- 
cal feeling, the city (being the seat of the foreign govern- 
ment which rules the island) is thoroughly Spanish, and in 
this sense is not entirely representative of the local customs 
and sentiments of provincial Cuba. This city was founded 
early in the sixteenth century (about 1519), nearly one 
hundred years before the first colonization of our sea- 
board, and has interesting historical associations. 

The entrance to Havana, approached from the Grulf of 
Mexico, iDresents a beautiful spectacle. A few hundred 
yards offshore the characteristic ultramarine blue of the 
deeper sea is succeeded by a narrow belt of beautiful pearl- 
green water bordering the shore and overlying the shallow 
banks of growing coral reef. In front stretches the beau- 
tiful Cuban coast and a full view of Havana and its 
surroundings. The entrance of the harbor is a narrow 
indentation into a straight shore-line. To the east the 
foliage-covered land, stretching toward Matanzas, ab- 
ruptly rises from one to two hundred feet; and on the 
point made by the indentation of the bay stand the pic- 
turesque lighthouse and fortifications of Morro Castle, 
whose flying pennants announce to the distant city the ap- 
proach of vessels. To the right the city, with the historic 
fort of La Punta on its extreme point, and Ijing on a low 



CUBAN CITIES: HA.VANA 109 

plain, spreads out in a beautiful picture. The yellow-col- 
ored houses with their red-tiled roofs, mottled by green 
trees, and the glaring white rocks and surf, make a bright 
and airy picture in the tropical sunlight. The harbor is a 
quadrangle with its four sides indented by land, so that it 
has the outline of a dried hide. The upper left-hand arm 
of this, as one looks out toward the sea, may be imagined 
to represent the long and narrow outlet to the sea ; the up- 
per right-hand limb, a shallow and sickly swamp projecting 
to the northeast ; the lower right-hand limb, the embayment, 
or ensenada, of Atares. Havana's water-front borders the 
western side, and Eegla, the Brooklyn of Havana, lies 
opposite. 

The bay was once much larger than at present, and is 
here and there fringed by plains of old alluvial sediment, 
upon one of which the city was first built. This beautiful 
landlocked body of water is alive with shipping. Steamers 
and war-vessels of all nationalities ride at anchor in the 
middle of it. The masts forming a forest on the eastern 
side are those of sailing-vessels, largely American, loading 
their cargoes of sugar at the wharves of Regla. There 
are many small local sailing-vessels, while hundreds of 
dories or feluccas with many-colored sails are constantly 
passing from place to place, carrying passengers from city 
to steamer or across to the fortifications. Large ferry- 
boats also cross between Havana and Eegla. In the latter 
city are located most of the sugar warehouses, the bull- 
ring, and the principal railway-station. For a mile or more 
between this village and Morro Castle the precipitous cliffs 
of the east side of the harbor are surmounted by fortifica- 
tions, known as the Cabanas, built of white masonry. In 
the southern end of the bay, where it is broadest and most 
shallow, rises a conical hill, Atares by name, which is also 
surmounted by antique battlements. Here Crittenden and 
other Americans of the ill-fated expedition of 1851 were 
shot. The Havana side of the harbor is bordered by a low 
and continuous sea-wall, with landing-steps protected by 



110 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

neat canopies, and a few steamer-slips, behind wliicli is a 
handsome street parallel with the water-front, on which face 
many beautiful buildings and shady parks. 

The city proper is on a low plain standing only a few 
feet above the sea, and was once inclosed by a medieval 
wall. It occupies a septagonal peninsula lying between the 
river Armendaris on the west, the sea on the north, and 
Havana harbor on the east. On the south and west it is 
backed by an amphitheater of pretty hills rising to the 
altitude of the Morro highland across the bay. On the 
westernmost of these are erected the conspicuous fortifica- 
tions of Castillo del Principe, while others are overrun by 
suburban houses which have crept out in those directions. 

One of the small feluccas speedily conveys the traveler 
to the Machina wharf, where polite officials attend to the 
formalities of landing. Neat victorias expeditiously con- 
duct you, for the small sum of twenty cents, up the narrow, 
cobblestoned, medieval business streets to the hotels in the 
center of the city, the chief of which is La Grran Hotel In- 
glaterra. This hostelry is situated on the beautiful Plaza 
de Isabella, with trees, shrubs, and flowers, and surrounded 
by handsome, massive, two-story buildings with gigantic 
colonnades— suggestive, as a whole, of the wonderful white 
city which we built on Lake Michigan to commemorate the 
early history in which the discoverers of Cuba played so 
large a part. 

The building-material of Havana is a peculiar loose- 
textured conglomerate of sea- shell, of a glaring white color, 
called canter a, somewhat more compact than the coquina 
of St. Augustine. This is hewn out with axes or sawed into 
great blocks, and laid in massive courses, the surface of 
which is afterward plastered or stuccoed. This, in turn, is 
variously colored by calcimining. Sometimes the surfaces 
are roughly stippled to imitate rubble-stone work. The 
prevalent colors used are yellow, white, and drab, relieved 
by darkish Tjlue, deep Egyptian red, and a vivid yellow 
ocher. As in Spain and Mexico, the artisans make bold 



CUBAN CITIES: HAVANA 111 

but pleasing combinations and ornate effects. Often, by 
fresco-shading, moldings, cornices, and masonry jointings 
are imitated. The whole has a remarkably massive and 
light-colored effect. In the old town the tall and low 
windows are protected by the projecting Moorish grating 
so common to Spanish architecture, which would give the 
houses a prison-like appearance were it not for the bright 
colors outside and in. 

Toward evening the central plaza and adjacent drives are 
alive with splendid equipages, and horsemen showing the 
menage steps of the fine Andalusian chargers; and the 
benches and colonnades teem with well-dressed citizens in 
light attire of duck and flannels and hats of straw, or gaily 
uniformed soldiers, the whole making a picturesque and 
enlivening scene. Military assemblages of the Volunteers 
in the morning and bands of music at night add to the 
general air of gaiety. 

The side of the square on which the Hotel Inglaterra is 
located is a magnificent avenue of unusual width, extend- 
ing north and south, known as the Paseo or Prado, leading 
to the Gulf shore, and lined with imposing two-storied 
buildings of white, yellow, and drab colors. 

Throughout the city, and especially this portion, there 
are many elaborate structures, including two theaters and 
numerous club-houses. The latter usually have superb as- 
sembly-rooms in their second stories, and belong to asso- 
ciations representing the different provinces of Spain, so 
that on certain nights of the carnival the passing stranger, 
who is always hospitably invited to view the spectacle, 
may visit a dozen large balls, and see hundreds of well- 
dressed dancers at each of them. The Havanese brag that 
the Teatro Ta^on is the largest in the world ; it certainly is 
the largest auditorium south of Cincinnati. Here the best 
actors and singers are seen and heard ; for no great artists 
who have visited America, such as Mlsson, Patti, Salvini, 
Coquelin, or Duse, have neglected to pay Havana a week's 
visit. Here one week I witnessed- the' superb comedy of 



112 CUBA AND POETO RICO 

Coquelin and Hading. The audience was brilliant with all 
that dress, jewels, and fair women could make it. One 
could readily believe himself in Paris. The next night was 
the closing Sunday of the carnival season. The fashiona- 
ble world, which had filled the Ta^on the week before, trans- 
ferred its presence to the grand balls in the various club- 
houses, and the Ta^on was filled by a frightful canaille, that 
indulged in the most licentious orgies. Negresses and mu- 
lattos from the smallpox and fever-laden slums, drunken 
sailors of all nations, and the scum of the male population 
of the city held wild revelry. 

Other notable buildings are the large markets, the opera- 
house, the captain-general's palace, the hospitals, the uni- 
versity, the city prison, and several churches, including 
the cathedral. The many immense cigar-factories are by 
no means unattractive features. These are large buildings, 
resembling the factories of the village towns of New Eng- 
land, although more ornamental in architecture and sur- 
roundings. 

The churches of Havana are not particularly numerous. 
The largest is the Merced, a cathedral in the rococo style, 
with handsome marble altars, mahogany and dark-colored 
marble furnishings, and a superb choir. It is sur- 
mounted by a large central dome and two short towers. 
This edifice is principally interesting because of the fact 
that it is one of the alleged resting-places of Columbus. 
The disputed remains are in a small urn deposited in a 
niche in the west wall of the chancel, and sealed up with a 
marble slab surmounted by an excellent bust wreathed with 
laurel. The inscription is as follows : 

O Restos e Ymagen del grande Colon ! 
Mil ciglos durad guardados en la Vrua, 
Y en la remembransa de nuestra Nacion.^ 

1 The literal intei-pretation of this poorly constructed inscription is : 
Oh, rest thou, image of tlie great Colon ! 
Thousand centuries remain guarded in the urn, 
And in the remembrance of our nation. 





OLD CHURCH USED AS CUSTOM-HOUSE 




THE CATHEDRAL 
HAVANA 



CUBAN CITIES: HAVANA 113 

The inhabitants of Santo Domingo, however, as will be 
shown in our descriptions of that island, are as positive as 
the Havanese that they still retain the custody of Colum- 
bus's body, and allege that the remains in the cathedral of 
Havana, to which so many pilgrimages have been made, are 
not genuine. 

There are many institutions of learning in the city, the 
principal of which are the University of Havana and the 
large Jesuit College de Belen for boys. The latter is an 
observatory, where most of the important astronomic and 
climatologic data concerning Cuba have been collected. 
It also possesses a museum, in which can be seen preserved 
the fauna of the island, principally land-snails, birds, and 
many rare botanical specimens. The library is especially 
rich in old volumes, drawings, and prints illustrating 
Cuban life and scenery from the sixteenth century down 
to our own times. 

There are numerous charitable and benevolent institu- 
tions in the capital. Among these are the Casa de Bene- 
ficencia, founded by Las Casas as an asylum for infants and 
the aged ; hospitals for the sick of all classes ; and an im- 
mense lazaretto situated in the western part of the city, in 
which six nuns and two priests attend to over a hundred 
leprous interns, besides treating dozens of unfortunate 
beings afflicted with this dread disease who call daily at its 
dispensary. A handsome and apparently well-arranged 
hospital for the insane is maintained a few miles south of 
Havana, on the road to Batabano. 

Of the institutions of Havana it may be said that so far 
as the benevolent and charitable impulses that support 
them are concerned, they are commendable ; but the whole 
system is utterly behind the age, inasmuch as it is not 
based upon any thought of the preservation of public 
health, but is solely for the alleviation of individual cases. 
For instance, there is no isolation of those affected with 
contagious diseases ; leprosy, smallpox, yellow fever, beri- 
beri, and other diseases are allowed to exist in private 



114 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

residences without consideration of danger to adjacent 
neighbors or the community at large. Furthermore, de- 
pendents of all kinds, lepers, blind, aged, deaf, or lame, are 
allowed to roam as long as they can beg their way. 

The houses of the wealthy are scattered through every 
part of the city. Some of the finer mansions are very 
handsome, being built in the classic style. Even in solid city 
blocks these always have an inner courtyard, or patio, sur- 
rounded by tall stuccoed columns, and ornamented with beau- 
tiful flowering plants around a central fountain. Song 
and ornamental birds hang in cages. In the suburbs, 
where the houses are not in blocks, they are usually sur- 
rounded by beautiful yards and gardens. It has been said 
that the handsomest street in Havana is the Cerro, a long 
thoroughfare running up a hill toward Jesus del Monte, a 
southern suburb. This is bordered on either side by 
enormous old villas in the midst of magnificent gardens. 
The finest of these mansions is built of white marble in the 
usual classic style. In the midst of a perfect forest of 
cocoa-palms stands the former summer villa of the bishops 
of Havana, now a private residence. Then one after an- 
other follow the handsome dwellings of the Havanese 
sangre asiil, of the Marques dos Hermanos, of the Conde 
Penalver, of the Marquesa de Rio Palma, etc. The orna- 
mental cacti in these villa gardens are of immense size and 
shape. They are principally of the Cereus kind. The 
door-steps of nearly all these residences are surmounted by 
recumbent lions, indicative of the aristocracy of their in- 
habitants. At one residence the lions were lying overturned 
in the back yard, instead of upright at the front entrance. 
Upon inquiry as to the cause of this, I learned that the 
possessor thereof had become incensed because his neigh- 
bor, a parvenu of low origin, upon whom a title of nobility 
had lately been bestowed, had recently set up lions on 
the adjacent door-steps. West of the mouth of the river 
Armendaris is the handsome seaside suburb of La Mira- 
nao, where the wealthier residents have constructed taste- 



CUBAN CITIES: HAVANA 115 

f ul cottages surrounded by gardens, which suggest some of 
our summer seaside resorts. 

The principal business streets are known as the Calle 
Obispo and Calle O'Reilly. The latter runs from the 
governor's palace east, and passes through the central 
park to the outer walls of the city. It is a crooked thor- 
oughfare, built centuries ago, with sidewalks so narrow 
that one must step into the gutter to pass an opposing 
pedestrian. Many of the houses of this and similar narrow 
lanes and alleys of the old part of the town are but one 
story high; but one story in Cuba is so lofty that it is 
equivalent to two of our country. These streets are 
crowded during the early hours with vehicles and people 
engaged in shopping or commercial pursuits, and sailors 
of all nations, for the foreign trade of Havana amounts to 
fifty million dollars yearly. 

The wholesale houses are overflowing with plantation 
supplies, while the shops are plentifully supplied with 
European and native goods. Only a few years ago the 
jewelers' and goldsmiths' shops were renowned throughout 
the western world; but now, unfortunately, they are 
entirely ruined. Even in 1878, when the shoe first began 
to pinch in Cuba, many fine jewels, and some beautiful 
specimens of old Spanish silver, Louis XV fans, snuff- 
boxes, and bric-a-brac of all kinds, were offered for sale. 
Often a negress would come to the hotel bearing a coffer 
full of things for inspection. The mistress who sent the 
good woman must have had implicit trust in her servant, 
who frequently sold her wares for very considerable sums. 
Few of the Havanese nobility and rich planters have any- 
thing left which is worth selling nowadays ; but only a few 
years ago Havana was a happy hunting-ground for bargain- 
seekers. 

Street-railways with cars drawn by mules radiate in sev- 
eral directions from the Paseo. One of the principal lines 
proceeds north down the Paseo to the Punta battery and 
baths on the Gulf shore, and then westward for several 



116 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

miles along the sea-front, past the hospitals, to the little 
village of Chorerra, at the mouth of the Almendares. At 
this place stands an interesting old ruin known as the 
Bucaneers' Fort, which was built in the earlier centuries. 
The place is also of interest inasmuch as it was the site of 
the first settlement of the present city of Havana in 1819. 
Another goes south for several miles, past the aristocratic 
residences of Cerro Street, to the little suburb of Jesus del 
Monte. 

For its size Havana is exceptionally well supplied with 
public and private carriages. An excellent victoria can be 
hired for two pesetas (forty cents) an hour. To avoid ex- 
tortion from the cab-drivers, the lamp-posts are painted 
various colors— red for the central district, blue for the 
second circle, and green for the outer. Thus the traveler 
at once becomes aware when he gets beyond the radius, 
and pays accordingly. Trouble with the Havanese hack- 
coachman, usually a colored man and very civil, is of the 
rarest occurrence. The picturesque volante, once as essen- 
tially Cuban as the gondola is Venetian, has entirely dis- 
appeared from the streets of the capital; victorias and 
landaus have usurped the place of these old-style coaches, 
excepting in the country, where they are often to be met 
with on the highroads. 

Of Havana society, like all passing strangers who have 
not penetrated its inner circles, I can say but little. Su- 
perficially it resembles that of most of the cities of south- 
ern Europe, and is principally devoted to innocent enjoy- 
ment. The gentlemen have their clubs, which are large 
and well adapted to the climate ; the ladies find occupation 
in their benevolent and charitable organizations. All are 
fond of dress and driving. The styles among the gentle 
sex are mainly Parisian, while the men assume flannels, 
duck, and linen in the daytime, with the universal dress- 
suit at evening. The city in winter is the resort not only 
of a large foreign population, including tourists and busi- 
ness men, but of the principal planters of the sugar and 



CUBAN CITIES: HAVANA 117 

tobacco districts. These, with the large set of military- 
officials, add interest to the social picture. 

Among the lower classes there is a large industrial popu- 
lation, living in densely crowded houses, and employed 
principally in the tobacco-factories. There are also manu- 
factories of sweetmeats, candles, carriages, soap, perfu- 
mery, and glycerin, and breweries, rum-distilleries, tanner- 
ies, and gas-works. 

Among so pleasure-loving a people as the Cubans, 
public amusements hold a far more prominent place than 
they do in the United States, with, perhaps, the sole excep- 
tion of New Orleans, and the carnival at Havana was at 
one time the most brilliant in the Americas. For many 
years its glories have been declining, and during the last 
few decades the upper and middle classes have taken little 
part in the outdoor festivities. 

There are many places of recreo adjacent to Havana, 
including the sea-shore and the pretty villages, such as 
Gruines, Gruanabacoa, Marianao, and Puentes G-randes. 
Excursions to places of interest can be taken within a few 
hours' ride from the city; all the country within railway 
communication can be reached in a day's time. Two 
hours will convey one southward by rail to Batabano, or 
westward to the tobacco-fields of Pinar del Rio, or east- 
ward through charming hills to Matanzas. The miserable 
village of Batabano, twenty-five miles distant, is only 
interesting as an entrepot for the city. Here the coastal 
cable from Santiago touches, and from this point radiate 
various lines of steamers along the coast and to the Isle of 
Pines. 

All in all, Havana is a handsome, delightful, and charm- 
ing city, where one capable of remembering that all the 
world is not alike will find novel experiences and interest- 
ing entertainment on every side. In spite of the frightful 
mortality of Havana, the better parts of the city are, to 
outward appearance, clean and beautiful. Prisoners sweep 
the paved streets each morning, and the houses are aU kept 



118 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

neatly freshened with color. Outside of the busy thor- 
oughfares and marts or the crowded homes of the poor, 
which are no worse than in the down-town streets of New 
York, one rarely meets a foul smell. The unsanitary con- 
dition of the city is largely due to causes which are hidden 
from public sight, such as the crowding of tenements, the 
miserable cesspools, and the imperfect sewerage, which 
befouls the beautiful harbor. The city, we are informed 
by trustworthy engineers and the highest medical authori- 
ties of our country who have studied the yellow-fever 
question in Havana, could be made one of the most health- 
ful in the world. Until recently it was badly supplied with 
water, and its sewerage is still abominable. In 1895 a 
modern system of waterworks was installed by New York 
engineers, who also prepared plans for the solution of the 
sewerage problem. The city is well policed. Numerous 
patrolmen dressed in handsome military uniforms guard 
the various corners, while gendarmes mounted on fine 
horses are stationed at various places. 

West of Havana, in the Vuelta Abajo district of Pinar 
del Rio province, there are (or were) many pretty towns. Of 
these, Cabanas, Mariel, and Bahia Honda are on the northern 
sea-coast, and have small landlocked harbors which to a 
certain extent are miniature duplicates of Havana Bay. 
These towns are very prettily located. The chief places 
in the interior are Gruanajay, Pinar del Eio, and San Cris- 
tobal. Guanajay is situated on the principal highway that 
runs through Vuelta Abajo, and had a population of about 
four thousand inhabitants. It is a fine type of the smaller 
Cuban towns, possessing a pretty public square, around 
which are built some very imposing houses. The town lies 
in the heart of a beautiful country, about twelve miles from 
the north shore, between which and it are a number of 
large sugar-estates situated in a rolling country. 

San Antonio de los Bafios was a small and pretty town, 
with well-built houses and about five thousand inhabitants, 
twenty-three miles from Havana, on the road to Gruanajay. 



CUBAN CITIES: HAVANA 119 

It had mineral springs and baths, and was frequented as a 
summer resort by the people of Havana. 

Pinar del Rio and San Cristobal are the chief inland 
towns of the Vuelta Abajo. Both are pleasant places, 
surrounded by picturesque scenery, and principally in- 
habited by the tobacco-planters. 



CHAPTER XIII 

OTHER CUBAN CITIES 

Matanzas. Beauty of the surrounding country. Cardenas. Sagua la 
Grande. Cienfuegos. Trinidad. Santa Clara. Puerto Principe, Bay- 
amo, and Holguin. Manzauillo. Santiago de Cuba. Guantanamo. 
Baracoa. 

THE second city and seaport of central Cuba is Matan- 
zas, about sixty miles east of Havana. It was founded 
in 1693, and is the chief outlet for that part of the sugar 
region which stretches south and east toward Cardenas, 
and which includes the most fertile lands in Cuba. The 
harbor is large and capacious, but, like many others, through 
the laisser-f aire policy of the Spanish government, has been 
allowed to fill with sediment, and hence the larger steamers 
are obliged to load in the roadstead. 

The city itself is handsomely situated on the south and 
east side of the harbor, on a lower plane, backed on aU sides, 
except toward the sea, by a noble terrace of wooded hills, 
out of which two beautiful streams, the Yumuri and San 
Juan, flow into the bay. It is divided into three parts by 
rivers, the principal business part occupying the central 
portion and extending west one and a half miles. The 
chief warehouses, distilleries, and sugar-refineries are on 
the south of the river San Juan, easily accessible to rail- 
roads and lighters. The population is 49,384, and that of 
Matanzas province 271,000, according to the 1893 census. 

120 



OTHER CUBAN CITIES 121 

The principal industries are rum-distilling, sugar-refining, 
and manufacture of guava-jelly. There are railroad-car 
and machine-shops. Sugar and molasses are sent to the 
United States, amounting, from 1891 to 1895, to $59,988,497. 
The climate is fine, and Matanzas is considered the most 
healthful city on the island. With proper drainage and 
sanitary arrangements yellow fever and malaria would be 
almost unknown. 

The streets are well laid out and paved with stone ; sev- 
eral handsome plazas with ornamental trees and flowers are 
interspersed here and there ; and the houses in the better 
quarters are large and neat-looking two- story buildings, 
the upper portions of which are used as residences. These 
are all stuccoed in drab or ocher colors, and have neat and 
ornate balconies along the second story. Club-houses, 
churches, and theaters of no small proportions also abound, 
and a handsome administration building. Matanzas has a 
large pleasure-boulevard, known as the Paseo, which is laid 
out with gravel walks and rows of trees, with a stony para- 
pet and iron gates at each end of the drive. It is about a 
half-mile in length. 

Newtown, lying to the east of the city, is marked by a 
handsome street called the Calzada de Esteban, and con- 
tains in one block some of the most tasteful dwelling-houses 
to be seen in Cuba. The houses are large and imposing, 
having handsome pillared front porticos with iron railings, 
and generally covered with extensive luxuriant vines. 
Prettily colored tiles are used along this street for the 
formation of terraces. The strong color-effects of these 
houses, which would look gaudy in our climate, are very 
pleasing in Cuba. 

In the northeast part of the city, at the mouth of the 
Yumuri, and immediately overlooking the shore of the bay, 
is the suburb known as Versailles. This is a picturesque 
spot, the home of the boatmen and fishermen, and has a 
look of antiquity suggestive of the fact that it may have 
been the original site of the city. 



122 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

Matanzas is surrounded by a beautiful suburban country. 
The caves of Bellamar to the east, and the valley of the 
Yumuri, elsewhere described, are natural objects which 
almost equal in interest our Yellowstone Park and Mam- 
moth Cave. The ahra, or canon, of the Yumuri, with its 
vertical walls overhanging a grass-covered walk beneath 
the cliffs and by the beautiful stream, and the shady waters 
of the San Juan, to the south of the city, are natural plea- 
sure-resorts such as no American city possesses, and are 
fully appreciated by the Matanzans, who find recreation 
therein by boating and picnicking. The San Juan is as- 
cended by rowboats for about four miles to a sugar-estate 
known as Los Molinos, where there are pretty falls, the 
water-power of which runs the machinery. Short railway 
journeys from Matanzas also carry one to many interesting 
sugar-estates, such as those around the pueblo of Union 
and the famous Concepcion estate of the Aldama family. 

Railways run from Matanzas south, east, and west, making 
the city easily accessible from all parts of the Yuelta Arriba. 

Cardenas, founded in 1828, is one of the few towns of 
Cuba built in this century. It lies on a spacious bay shel- 
tered by a long promontory. It is one of the principal 
sugar- exporting places of the island, and is connected by 
rail with Matanzas, Havana, Santa Clara, and Cienfuegos, 
and by regular steamers with all the coast towns. 

It is a thriving place, being the depot and shipping-port 
of a fine adjacent sugar-growing district. The city is regu- 
larly laid out with broad streets, and has a fine large plaza 
in the center, in which stands a bronze statue of Columbus. 
A large number of Americans are engaged in business, and 
form a considerable proportion of the mercantile community. 
There are a church, several cafes, and a number of fine, 
well-built wharves, some of which extend a long distance 
from the shore. The inhabitants claim that the town is 
generally a cool place, but, as Hazard has remarked, I 
cannot at this moment recollect any one inducement to the 
traveler to visit it, unless he deals in sugar and molasses. 



OTHEE CUBAN CITIES 123 

Between Cardenas and Juacaro, at the station of Pijuan, 
there was a very fine sugar-estate known as the Flor de 
Cuba. It contained about three thousand acres of beauti- 
ful rolling land, upon which were a substantial factory and 
elegant dwelling. 

Sagua la Grande is the next place of importance along 
the north coast, east of Cardenas. It is twenty-five miles 
from the mouth of a river of the same name, and two hun- 
dred miles from Havana. The city is entirely devoted to 
the sugar-trade. In comparison with other Cuban towns 
it is an unattractive place, although in climate and sanitary 
arrangements it is superior to most places. It is the 
eastern north-coast termination of the Havana railway 
system. 

A railway crosses the island from Sagua to Cienfuegos. 
This may be said to mark the boundary between the Vuelta 
Arriba, or western Cuba, and the more broken configura- 
tion of Camaguey. East of this line for a considerable 
distance the urban centers of life and industry are shifted 
from the northern to the southern seaboard, toward Cien- 
fuegos and Trinidad, although Remedios and Caibarien, on 
the north coast of Santa Clara, are important places. 

Cienfuegos, on the south side, is a modern place, situated 
on a magnificent landlocked harbor, with a narrow 
entrance known as the Bay of Jagua. It was this bay 
that Columbus visited on his first voyage, and which 
Father Las Casas, in speaking of, described as the most 
magnificent port in the world, comprising within its shores 
six square leagues. Although surveyed by Ocampo in 1508, 
and spoken of by Herrera as a haven unrivaled in the 
world, the town was settled only in 1819 by refugees from 
Santo Domingo. Within the past twenty years its trade has 
increased enormously. It is now the second seaport in the 
island. 

The water of the bay is a beautiful transparent green, 
through which, at a great depth, can be seen the white 
sandy bottom. Its depth at the anchorage is twenty- seven 



124 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

feet, and at the wharves from fourteen to sixteen feet. A 
circular railway leading to a wharf and large warehouses 
facilitates the loading and unloading of vessels. Many- 
local steamers leave the town for Batabano, Trinidad, San- 
tiago, and the Isle of Pines. The many ships at anchorage 
alongside the wharves, and the picturesque background of 
hills, are imposing sights. 

This little city, which is the metropolis of central Cuba, 
is a model of its kind, has a population of 23,517, and 
is the center of the sugar-trade of the south side of the 
island. The streets are regularly laid out ; the houses are 
well built ; and there are beautiful shade-trees and plazas, 
one of which is the largest in Cuba. There is a handsome 
main avenue, at the end of which are fine statues to Gen- 
eral Serrano, a former governor of the island, and to 
G-eneral Clouet, a founder of the town of Cienfuegos, who 
was an emigre from Louisiana. 

Cienfuegos is lighted by gas and electricity, has abun- 
dant water-supply, excellent clubs, and a theater. It has 
also an imposing governor's house, military and govern- 
ment hospitals, market-place, and railway-station. 

Some of the largest and finest sugar-estates in the world 
are situated near this city, including the Soledad and others. 
Probably no place on the island offers greater advantages 
for seeing sugar-making in its most favorable aspects. 

The climate of Cienfuegos from December 1 until May is 
dry and moderately warm, the temperature ranging from 
60° to 78° during the day, and falling several degrees at 
night. At this season almost constant winds prevail from 
the northeast or northwest, accompanied by clouds of dust. 
For the rest of the year the temperature ranges from 75° 
to 93°, descendilig a few degrees at night. 

Trinidad, to the east of Cienfuegos, dates from the first 
years of the conquest. The town was settled by Diego 
Velasquez in 1513, and, like Baracoa and Santiago, repre- 
sents one of the earliest fortified cities of the New World. 
The town and harbor were the scene of many desperate 



OTHER CUBAN CITIES 125 

combats during the reign of the bucaneers. Although 
the city is a short distance back from the sea, it is con- 
venient to no fewer than three harbors and an excellent 
roadstead. 

Trinidad has a picturesque setting of high hills and 
mountains. It is located on the slope of the mountain 
calledLaVigia ("Lookout"), which has an elevation of about 
nine hundred feet above sea-level. The port, Casilda, lies 
about one league to the south ; the harbor is almost land- 
locked and has very little depth. Vessels drawing ten feet 
six inches are liable to run aground with the least devia- 
tion from the tortuous channel. About half a mile west 
of Trinidad is the river Gruarabo, navigable for small boats 
only. Four miles east lies Masio Bay, which will accommo- 
date deep-draft vessels. The population numbers about 
eighteen thousand. Sugar and a little honey are exported. 
The place is so situated that the heavier it rains the cleaner 
it becomes. The climate is very healthful, the death-rate 
being 21 to 26 per 1000, though sanitary measures are almost 
unknown. The town and vicinity are considered the 
most healthful in Cuba. 

The streets, with some exceptions, are narrow and tor- 
tuous ; there are some fine public buildings, and the houses 
vary from the humble tiled-roofed, one- story affairs of 
the common people to the handsome private edifices of the 
wealthy. The market-place is a very fine square in the 
southeast end of the town, surrounded by barracks and 
drill-grounds for the troops. The Flor de Carillo, situated 
near the center of the town, is beautifully laid out with 
vines and shrubbery, shading the stone walks, and a pro- 
fusion of flowers. In the center of the square there is a 
graceful arbor completely covered with flowering vines. 
A broad stone walk extends around this square, lighted 
by a profusion of gas-jets, giving the park a peculiarly 
beautiful appearance at night. 

There are many pleasant drives and rides around Trini- 
dad, the favorite of which is the ascent of Vigia, one of 



126 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

the large conical mountains from which a grand view of 
the landscape may be obtained. The Pico del Potrerillo, the 
highest mountain of central Cuba, is also accessible from 
Trinidad. The Lomo del Puerto commands a valley said 
to be the most beautiful on the south side of the island. 
Within the boundaries of this valley are no less than fifty 
ingenios, or sugar-plantations, some of them of the finest 
class. A number of beautiful streams of water, including 
the Ay and Agabama, unite to form the river Manati, 
which empties into the sea east of Casilda. This stream is 
navigable for seven miles, and by it the planters send their 
sugar and molasses out of the valley. A railroad from 
Casilda runs out of the valley for some distance. The 
magnificent country place of the Cantera family, known as 
the Eecreo or Quinta, if it has been spared the devastation 
of revolution, is one of the most beautiful private houses 
in Cuba, rivaling even the palace of the captain-general 
at Havana. A lovely canon leads out of the mountains 
just behind the city. In the winter Trinidad is very 

gay. 

East of Trinidad, which is near the central meridian of 
the island, important cities begin to appear in the interior, 
such as Santa Clara, Remedios, Esperanza, Puerto Prin- 
cipe, and Holguin. These are all peculiar and interesting 
places, where true Cuban life can best be seen, uncontami- 
nated by the modern commercial spirit. 

Santa Clara is now called Villa Clara. It was founded 
in 1689, and numbered about twelve thousand inhabitants, 
many of whom were formerly people of great wealth, the 
women being celebrated for their beauty. At the time of 
my last visit, in 1894, a large and excellent hotel had been 
constructed. Spacious rooms, generous meals, clean ser- 
vice, and hospitable attention were provided, all on the 
European style, not equal to our best New York hotels, 
but far better than are met with in interior towns of simi- 
lar size in the United States. Villa Clara is connected by 
two trains daily with Cienf uegos and Havana. The coun- 




GENERAL VIEW 




THE CATHEDRAL 

SANTIAGO DE CUBA 



OTHER CUBAN CITIES 127 

try in this portion of Cuba is diversified hill and plain, 
with many superb plantations in the valleys. 

Camaguey, as the Cubans call the town, or Puerto Prin- 
cipe, as it is officially designated, although remote from the 
sea-coast, is the chief interior city of Cuba, and claims to 
be the most creole of Cuban towns. The city lies on a 
plain about midway between the two coasts, and is con- 
nected by rail with Nuevitas to the northeast. 

In the basin of the Cauto, Bayamo is the principal place. 
This is a very old town, which was founded on a southern 
affluent of the main stream during the first years of the 
conquest. It was at Yara, a little southwest of this place, 
that the great republican rising took place in 1868. The 
next year, when the Spanish troops made their appearance,, 
the inhabitants themselves set fire to their houses. Dur- 
ing the present revolution Bayamo has been an important 
stronghold. 

Holguin, lying to the northward of the Cauto, is also an ^ 
important city of this part of Cuba. 

Manzanillo is the only town of importance on the south 
coast between Trinidad and Santiago. This is a low place, 
situated south of the Cauto delta, and by nature is, per- 
haps, the most unhealthful city on the island, not only 
owing to the marshy surroundings, but because it is cut 
off by the high Sierra Maestra from the health-giving 
trade-winds from the south and east. Notwithstanding 
these facts it is an important commercial and exporting 
point, being the outlet of the fertile Cauto valley, from 
which are shipped large quantities of tobacco, sugar, wax, 
honey, and other agricultural produce. 

Santiago de Cuba, or Saint Jago of the natives, is a city 
of Cuba which is second only to Havana in strategic and 
political importance, and is the capital of the east end of 
the island. The city is situated one hundred miles west of 
the eastern cape of Cuba, upon a beautiful bay, six miles 
long, so completely landlocked that its narrow entrance can 
hardly be seen from the sea. Looking from the steamer's 



128 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

deck nothing is visible but the straight coast-line of high 
mountains, presenting apparently an impenetrable front ; 
but on closer approach a narrow rent is seen, only one hun- 
dred and eighty feet in width, but of good depth. Once 
within the harbor to which this passage gives entrance, 
one is well disposed to join in the chorus of praise which 
has been awarded to it by sailors and others who describe 
it as one of the finest in the world ; and certainly it has 
many admirable points which one realizes only from the 
inside. 

The first Spanish colonizer of Cuba, Velasquez, was not 
slow to seize upon the great natural advantages which the 
harbor presented, and two years after establishing the first 
capital at Baracoa he removed the seat of government, in 
1514, to Santiago ; hence the place may justly claim to be 
one of the oldest cities in America, dating from the days 
of Columbus. The narrow entrance to the harbor presents 
several pretty objects. On the east point is Morro Cas- 
tle, which was built by the old Spanish warrior Pedro de 
la Eocca about the year 1640. Looking at it, one would 
scarcely believe it possessed much defensive effectiveness 
when pitted against modern men-of-war. From the point 
of view of the artist, however, it is perfect. A flight of 
well-worn steps winds from the water's edge up the side of 
the grim old brown-and-yellow walls, all covered with moss 
and i\^, to the solid battlements on top, while the moat, 
drawbridge, and other surroundings make up a charming 
picture, suggestive of the days of gallant knights and im- 
prisoned maidens. A little farther in, at the left, is the 
castle known as La Socapa, which is also very picturesque. 
On the same side as Morro is a small star-shaped fortifi- 
cation known as La Estrella. Still farther in small islands 
appear, on one of which, at the left, is built the hamlet of 
Cayo Smith. The latter is the watering-place of the best 
families of Santiago, and has many beautiful villas. There 
is another island at the beginning of the bay, where the 
magazines are located. The narrow neck of the bay, toward 




SMITH KEY 




MORRO CASTLE 



SANTIAGO DE CUBA 



OTHER CUBAN CITIES 129 

its interior end, is bordered by steep mountain-sides cov- 
ered with tropical vegetation. 

The bay itself is a magnificent body of water, capable, as 
has been shown in the .present warfare, of harboring a 
whole fleet. As a background, the magnificent heights of 
the Sierra Maestra appear, assuming in the early morning 
the peculiar purple color seen to such effect in the Blue 
Mountains of Jamaica. Not only to the north, but east 
and west also, tall mountains raise their heads around the 
harbor, forming a vast amphitheater of nature, with the 
blue waters of the bay as a foreground. On the right side 
of the bay, toward its mouth, is a place used by the govern- 
ment as a coaling-station, known as Cinco Reales. 

To the right of the city, toward La Cruz, is a small fort 
called Punta Blanca, which takes its name from the bank 
of white sand on which it rests. On the hills above are 
several small blockhouse forts. A large building, used as 
a convalescent hospital for the Spanish soldiers, is a con- 
spicuous object on the left-hand side of the bay, while on 
the hillside near the suburban village of La Cruz are many 
beautiful houses with blue-and-yellow walls, a quaint tur- 
ret or tower projecting here and there through the matrix 
of royal palms. 

The town of Santiago itself lies at the extreme northeast 
indentation of the bay, upon a sloping hillside about six miles 
from the sea. It is a quaint and peculiar city of the character- 
istic Moorish architecture, with roofs of red tile. Many of the 
houses are only one story high, but there are larger struc- 
tures. The dwelling-houses are surrounded by spacious 
verandas, which give upon beautiful gardens filled with a 
wealth of gorgeous tropical flowers ; orange-, lime-, poin- 
settia-, and hibiscus- trees give a variety of color. One of the 
best features of the place is the Alameda, the road extend- 
ing along the water-front for about half a mile, with a good 
surface for cycling, and shaded by waving palms and other 
trees. At its eastern end is a very pretty botanical garden, 
and about midway in its course is a charming rustic pavil- 



130 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

ion, directly opposite the pier which leads to the comfor- 
table quarters of the Club Nautica. Both the club and the 
Alameda are chiefly due to the efforts of the foreign resi- 
dents, who control the trade of .the city. There are no 
hotels, but the Anglo-American Club usually takes care of 
respectable strangers, and travelers have declared that it 
supplied the best-cooked meals and was the cleanest and 
most comfortable stopping-place for foreigners in the West 
Indies. 

The commercial houses are not imposing, and convey 
a wrong impression of the business transacted therein. 
Looking at the shabby, tumbledown offices, one can 
hardly credit that some of the firms transact operations 
aggregating several millions a year. 

The old cathedral forms the eastern boundary of the 
Plaza de Armas, where on Thursday and Sunday nights it 
was the custom of the citizens and senoritas to promenade 
while listening to the music of the military bands. The 
government house and the Club San Carlos are two of 
many respectable buildings on this plaza. Among the 
other city buildings mention may be made of the large 
military barracks and hospital on the hill to the northwest, 
and the theater, now in a dilapidated state, in which it is 
claimed that Adelina Patti, at the age of fourteen, and 
under the direction of Gottschalk, made her debut on the 
public stage. 

Santiago is the center of the mineral district of Cuba, 
and railways radiate from the city to the mines of the 
various American iron and manganese companies, east and 
west along the coast, and southward through a high pass in 
the mountains to the village of El Cobre, at the site of the 
abandoned copper-mines. The city is largely embargoed 
from the interior by the mountains, but much commerce 
passes across the latter to the interior vallej'' of the Cauto. 
In the future development of Cuba, as in the past, it will 
always be of more or less importance, owing to its strategic 
position near the Windward Passage, or principal entrance 
to the Caribbean. Under a stable government the adjacent 





CALLE DE PUERTO 

SANTIAGO DE CUBA 



OTHEE CUBAN CITIES 131 

mountains will become the seat of extensive coffee and 
fruit production. 

The population in 1895 was 59,614, many people having 
been driven away by the revolution. The mean tempera- 
ture in summer is 88° ; in winter, 82°. It is regarded as 
very unhealthful, yellow fever being prevalent throughout 
the year, and smallpox epidemic at certain times. Santi- 
ago is the headquarters for three large mining plants owned 
by United States citizens, namely, the Juragua, the Spanish- 
American, and the Sigua, together representing the invest- 
ment of about eight million dollars. There are a number 
of tobacco-factories, but the chief business is the exporta- 
tion of raw materials, and the importation of manufactured 
goods and provisions. Sugar, iron ore, manganese, mahog- 
any, hides, wax, cedar, and tobacco are exported to the 
United States. 

Gruantanamo is the only other place of importance on the 
Sierra Maestra coast. It is about fifty miles east of Santiago, 
and, like it, at the interior end of a beautiful but shallower 
landlocked bay, and is one of the most charming little 
cities in Cuba. The coast country, particularly, is noted for 
its beautiful groves of lime- and lemon-trees. The heights 
were once the favorite place for the residences of wealthy 
sugar- and coffee-planters from the middle and eastern 
regions, where all the richest sugar-estates are situated. 
It was a Cuban Newport or Bar Harbor. The cafetals, or 
coffee-plantations, of Cuba— and there are many of them— 
are all located on the hills looking down upon the placid 
waters of Gruantanamo Bay. Coffee-bushes are planted in 
the shade of other and larger trees, like the lemon and 
lime, which grow twenty-five or thirty feet high, thus fur- 
nishing the perfect shade the coffee-bush needs. Besides 
being beautifully ornamental trees, the lemons and limes 
produce great quantities of the finest fruit, which has a 
commercial value per acre far exceeding that of oranges. 

Mr. William H. Stuart, of the sugar-refining firm of 
R. L. & William H. Stuart of New York, the proprietor of 
the sugar-plantation La Carolina, the finest place on the 



132 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

southern side of the island except Don Tonias Terry's es- 
tate, owned a charming Italian villa on a point just opposite 
and below Guantanamo. He had an avenue running up 
from the seaside to his residence, nearly a mile in length, 
laid down in shells, and shaded on either side by a growth 
of lime- and lemon-trees for the entire distance. Don 
Emilio deRivas, another very rich sugar- and coffee-planter, 
owned a superb old mansion on the heights just above, and 
to the southward of Guantanamo, in which were three 
hundred acres of coffee-bushes, shaded and covered by 
groves of lemon-trees. His annual income from fruit and 
coffee grown here averaged for over ten years from thirty- 
five to forty thousand dollars in gold. 

From Guantanamo to Cape Mayci, the eastern point of 
the island, and thence westward along the northern side to 
the mouth of the Yumuri of Santiago, one sees no sign of 
human habitation, except a few huts around the solitary 
lighthouse on the point of the island. From the Yumuri 
westward to where the fin-like string of keys join the main- 
land are to be seen some of the quaintest and certainly 
oldest places in America, the principal of which in sailing 
westward are Baracoa, Nipe, Banes, Gibara, Padre, and 
Nuevitas. These are all antique and interesting places, 
possessing many old ruins and fortifications. 

Baracoa, the most eastern port of the north coast of the 
island, is of historic interest, inasmuch as it is one of the 
oldest continuous settlements of the New World, having 
been settled by Diego Columbus, the son of Christopher, in 
the year 1514. The inhabitants— they are seven thousand 
in number— still point with pride to the ruins of his house. 
It will also go down in history as the point near which, 
on February 20, 1895, Antonio Maceo and his valiant 
band of nineteen followers, by a most daring and success- 
ful landing, started the present revolution, and from which 
within a year's time he marched to the western extremity 
of the island. 

The town is situated on a projecting tongue of elevated 




STREET SCENE 




MARKET NEGROES 

SANTIAGO DE CUBA 



OTHEE CUBAN CITIES 133 

reef rock, at the top of which is a little star- shaped fort of 
medieval structure. The inhabitants show you where the 
first cross was erected, and the ruins of the first house can 
still be seen. The circular harbor is only a mile in diame- 
ter, but has a picturesque setting of high hills to the south 
and west, above which towers the gigantic flat-topped hill 
known as El Junki, which is a notable landmark to the 
mariner on approaching this coast. 

Baracoa is the center for banana shipments, and many 
steamers here load with the finest and largest fruit grown 
in the West Indies. Its chief industry is the grinding 
of cocoanuts to extract oil. There are two establish- 
ments, with a capacity of thirty thousand cocoanuts daily, 
employing about fifty workmen. There are also a petro- 
leum-refinery (closed at present) and a chocolate-factory. 
Bananas and cocoanuts are exported to the United States 
($628,811 worth in 1895). 

The other cities of this general region are also unique, 
and, like Baracoa, each seems to be the metropolis of 
a limited local region, cut off from the others by high 
mountains, and connected with the outer world only by 
the sea. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE FUTUKE OF THE ISLAND 

The coming industrial rehabilitation. Limitations of climate and possibil- 
ities. Opportunities for small farming. The reopening of the sugar- 
plantations. Industiial openings. Future railway construction and 
pubhc works. Harbors and municipal improvements. Commercial 
expansion. 

WITH the passing of the Spanish regime in Cuba, which 
now seems assured, one is naturally inclined to specu- 
late concerning its political and commercial future. Under 
the solemn declaration of the resolution passed by both 
bodies of our Congress and signed by the President of the 
United States, this country stands committed to assist the 
Cubanos in establishing an independent form of government. 
It is our solemn duty to fulfil this obligation. Back of it, 
however, is a strong feeling, upon the part of Americans, 
foreign residents of Cuba, and Cubanos, that the ultimate 
destiny of this island will be absorption into the American 
Union. This fate has been predicted by every intelligent 
student and desired and prayed for by the people of the 
island for over half a century. That it will ultimately be. 
brought about by natural and friendly means there can be 
no doubt. 

Whether it remains an independent republic or becomes 
a part of our territory, it is generally believed that the 
island will undergo an industrial and commercial renais- 

134 



/ 



THE FUTURE OF THE ISLAND 135 

sance which will afford openings for colonization and in- 
vestment by the American people. Accompanying this 
opinion there is a demand for information concerning pos- 
sibilities in these directions. 

There are two important facts which the American who 
contemplates invading this prospective field should bear in 
mind. First, that Cuba is an old and settled country in~ 
which the land and mineral titles are largely fixed, and / / 
that it offers no opening for " booming," such as has fol- 
lowed the opening up of new and unsettled countries. 
Real-estate holdings might no doubt be cheaply acquired 
from the impoverished inhabitants, but the title to every 
acre of Cuba is vested in some individual ; there are no large i 
bodies of valuable vacant public land. 

A second fact to be remembered is that, while the climate 
of Cuba is in general salubrious and in winter delightful, 
the island is situated within the tropics, and Northern races 
cannot be established there, except at the sacrifice of 
many lives. People from our Southern coastal States, who 
have already attained a certain immunity from tropical 
diseases, might be able to endure permanent residence in 
Cuba, but the Northern man will find continuous residence 
upon the island impossible without physical degeneration 
and risk of annihilation. Hence the American who seeks 
investment in Cuba should have sufficient means to enable 
him to return frequently to his native country, in order to 
recuperate from the effects of the tropical climate. 

With rehabilitation of Cuba the island will offer oppor- 
tunities to four lines of investment : agricultural opportu- 
nities for the small farmer ; fields of investment for capi- 
talists, in the line of municipal and public improvements ; 
employment for labor; and the establishment of winter 
homes and resorts for the leisure classes. 

The possibilities in the lines of small agriculture, such 
as dairying, truck-gardening, and fruit- raising, are un- 
limited. The large city, plantation, and industrial popu- 
lations will all create a demand for the products of the 



136 CUBA AND POETO RICO 

vegetable garden; besides, the island has considerable 
opportunities in the way of supplying these to the Northern 
United States in winter. The fruit industry is bound to 
become one of the most important, as the island is pecu- 
liarly adapted for the growing of oranges, lemons, bananas, 
pineapples, and such other tropical fruits as find a large 
consumption in this country; and this industry, when 
stimulated by the removal of tariff restrictions, will un- 
doubtedly attain in Cuba even larger proportions than 
recently shown in the instances of Florida and the Pacific 
coast. ■ The cultivation of coffee, sugar, and tobacco will 
also be extended and improved with the removal of the 
tariff duties, and in all of these fields there is room for 
abundant profit and pleasant occupation. 
/The mountainous eastern end of Cuba will be the field of 
/inost profitable fruit- and coffee-culture. This highly fa- 
j vored region is the only one, outside the Mediterranean shore 
1 between Marseilles and Genoa, that will produce lemons 
\equal to those grown in Sicily. Properly conducted, the 
lemon-culture, with that of peaches and superb nectarines, 
that begin ripening in May (both these fruits are superior 
to the same kind grown in southern California), would 
become a great source of wealth to the United States. 
Lemons and limes are more easily grown than oranges, 
and as the area of their production is limited, there would 
be no surer agricultural road to fortune than their cultiva- 
tion presents. The eastern end of Cuba is one of the finest 
regions for coffee-culture in the world, particularly that 
portion of the island from Santiago to Gruantanamo, and 
from Cape Mayci to Baracoa, over on the northern side. 
If Americans ever possess this island, its ores, fruits, 
I healthful climate, and fine mineral springs will make it 
Vne of the richest countries in the world. Oranges, too, 
grow without cultivation in all parts of the island ; but no 
pains have been taken by selection or otherwise to make 
them equal to the product of Florida. Pineapples are grown 
in and exported from western Cuba and the Isle of Pines. 



THE FUTUEE OF THE ISLAND 137 

There is a tempting opportunity for men of small means 
to settle on the mountain terraces, and, under the most 
genial conditions of climate all the year round, to make a 
fair livelihood out of their little coffee-plantations. To the 
class of settlers for whom our Northern climate is too 
severe, the chances which Cuba offers for coffee-growing 
can hardly fail to be peculiarly attractive, and it is to them 
we may have to look for the first infusion of the best 
qualities of the American among a community somewhat 
deficient in them. 

Dairying and cattle-raising also present fair prospective 
openings. In the eastern provinces the cattle industry, 
owing to the fertile grazing-lands existing there, reaches 
considerable proportions, the product being large and fine 
animals of Spanish stock. There is also some horse-breed- 
ing in all parts of the island, the characteristic Cuban 
horse being a stout pony descended from Andalusian stock, 
with the build of a cob, and a peculiar prancing gait which 
is said to render it an exceptionally easy riding-animal. 
There is always a good demand for horses, mules, and oxen. 

Large capital will undoubtedly be devoted to reopening 
the sugar-plantations. It is a mistake to assume that the 
beet-sugar bounties of continental Europe must render 
unprofitable the growing of the sugar-cane in Cuba. They 
did contribute to the ruin of most of the non-resident pro- 
prietors, out of the savings of whose stewards and super- 
intendents the modern city of Barcelona — the Liverpool of 
the Mediterranean— is said to have been built. But all 
the methods of sugar production practised under these au- 
spices were grossly wasteful, and even under the conditions 
which existed at the outbreak of the latest rebellion, when 
there were two successful sugar-crops of over a million 
tons, there was a needless waste. Machinery has been 
brought up to the latest standard, and the transportation 
of the cane to the mill has been cheapened by the construc- 
tion of narrow-gage railroads, but the processes of agri- 
culture are stiU capable of improvement. When it is 



138 CUBA AND POKTO RICO 

remembered that three fourths of the cost of sugar pro- 
duction belongs to the agricultural side, and only one 
fourth to the mechanical side, the extent of the opportunity 
that exists for improvement will be apj)reciated. 

Roughly speaking, there is an average of two hundred 
pounds of sugar to every two thousand pounds of cane. 
Under the most favorable conditions there may be three 
hundred pounds of sugar to the ton of cane. But if this 
attainable maximum of fifteen per cent, of sugar could be 
increased, as it readily might, by more careful cutting, 
planting, and cultivating, to twenty per cent., there would 
be an immediate increase of thirty-three per cent, in the 
yield, with little, if any, increase in the cost of raising and 
harvesting. 

The advantage which Cuba possesses over all the other 
West Indian Islands in the matter of sugar-growing has 
already been alluded to. To this should be added the 
notable advantage of the possession of deep harbors, ad- 
mitting of direct shipment without lighterage, and a con- 
sequent saving in freight, representing an appreciable 
percentage of profit. That an increased production of 
sugar would add to the wealth of Cuba and the purchasing 
capacity of its people is sufficiently plain. Considering, 
however, that sugar-growing is a branch of agriculture 
best conducted on a large scale by men of capital, employ- 
ing, generally, low-priced labor, the regeneration of the 
island can hardly be looked for from this source. 

The chief opening for American energies will be found 
in the line of public improvements. Railways must be 
constructed, cities improved, waterworks and sewerage 
systems established, harbors dredged, and a thousand and 
one public works undertaken which Spain has long neg- 
lected, and which are necessary to the large population 
which the island already possesses. Concerning the pros- 
pects in these directions, we can present them no better 
than by summarizing the opinions recently expressed hj 
Mr. W. B. Scaife, an American engineer who has had long 



THE FUTURE OF THE ISLAND 139 

acquaintance with the island, and who " has entire faith in 
an ultimate bright future for Spain and Cuba, when some 
Western light shall shine through the present darkness, and 
the people have half a chance to educate their children and 
take some real part in the government of their country." 

The various directions in which industrial and engineer- 
ing works may be carried out may be generally stated to 
be the same as those which present themselves in any new 
country, in spite of the fact that Cuba is the oldest settle- 
ment in America. The opportunity for the building of com- 
mon roads is larger, and in most places there is an abundance 
of stone for the purpose. The roads cross rivers, etc., by 
fords, which are impassable soon after the rains set in, and, 
although the streams are neither large nor very numerous, 
the necessity for bridges is great. A glance at the map*J ^ 
will show that the great bulk of the island to the east of*^ 
Santa Clara is yet untouched. Part of the region is still 
unexplored. In the cultivation of the cane, both in the 
preparing of the land and in the planting and harvesting, 
there is a crying need of machinery. The planting of the 
cane is nearly all done by hand. There are a few cane- 
planting machines, but little is known about them. The 
weeding is done by hand in the majoi^ity of instances, and 
finally the harvesting is done with a knife ; and a laborious 
business it is. It takes five hundred men per day to cut 
the cane alone on a large estate, to say nothing of loading, 
and teaming to the railroad-tracks ; and the man who can 
successfully solve the problem of a cane-harvester has a 
large field to work in. 

The supplying of the sugar-houses with new machinery 
has been an enormous business in the last decade. It has 
been in the hands of the Scotch, French, and American 
machine-houses mostly, as the Grerman and other Conti- 
nental houses have fought shy of the long credits demanded, 
the insufficient security, and the general lack of faith in 
Cuban business affairs. There can be no doubt that much 
new business in this direction must spring up with the 



140 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

settlement of the present troubles, and it will doubtless 
gain in security with time. 

No electric roads exist in Cuba at the present time, but 
their immediate institution may be looked for. It is a 
singular fact that the travel on the various coasting- 
steamers, on the vessels running up the small rivers, on the 
railroads, and on the few busses that run to the suburbs 
of the larger towns, is very much larger than one would 
expect from the apparent nature of the people and their 
means. The writer has constantly been surprised at the 
overcrowding of these means of travel, and understands, 
on the best authority, that the business pays handsomely. 
The rates charged are usually exorbitant. 

The extension and improvement of steam-railways, open- 
ing up the country and giving better service, is sure to be 
a very paying business in the future, while there are a 
number of towns, besides Havana, in which electric roads 
-^ould be run to advantage. 

Municipal improvements will also give much work to 
engineers. First among these is the drainage of the towns. 
The sewers, where any exist, are horrible things, built 
without the most elementary knowledge, in which the con- 
gested filth of years breeds disease and vile odors. Means 
of flushing them do not exist, and undoubtedly the dump- 
ing of house-refuse and emptying of substitutes for water- 
closets along the curbstone are less dangerous to health 
than such a sewerage system. To this abominable condi- 
tion of the towns may be traced the prevalence of fevers, 
smallpox, and dysentery. These diseases are uncommon 
on the isolated estates, and the writer firmly believes they 
may be almost entirely eliminated from the island by 
giving attention in the towns to the ordinary rules of 
sanitation. 

Another and equally important need in Cuban towns is 
water. Havana is pretty well supplied, but in most other 
towns there is very little or none besides the rain-water 
stored, during the wet season, m great stone cisterns be- 



THE FUTUEE OF THE ISLAND 141 

neath the houses. It is not that the people in general do 
not fully appreciate the necessity and luxury of water, but 
that the executive power is lacking. Taxes are raised for 
this purpose, and special taxes, are sometimes levied to 
build new works, or for coal to keep the pump going ; but 
(and this may serve as an instance of many transactions) 
the money is calmly banked to the credit of the officials, or 
the coal is bought and resold for their benefit. Water is 
lacking in the towns during the dry season, and might 
easily be had. Excellent springs abound in most places, 
and small rivers of good water are fairly common. 

Connected with the cities and towns may be cited harbor 
improvements. Cuba is the land of fine harbors. Havana, 
Matanzas, Santiago, Guantanamo, Cienfuegos, and many 
other less important spots have splendid harbors, and, with 
the exception of Matanzas, which is wide at the mouth, the 
entrances are so narrow that inside they resemble inland 
lakes in form and tranquillity. But more piers and wharves 
for sea-going vessels are much needed. 

Much loading and unloading is done by means of light- 
ers. Money is collected for the construction of piers 
and the dredging of approaches to them, but no work is 
done, for a very profitable understanding seems to exist 
between the owners of the lighters and the city govern- 
ments on these points. Such a condition of things cannot 
continue for very long. In a prosperous season Cuba ships 
a million tons of sugar alone, and surely, under a half- 
enlightened government, this were worth an occasional 
pier. 

What the iron and copper deposits may amount to, it is 
now impossible to say, but that both exist in paying quan- 
tities is undoubted. In the total absence of any official 
reports on which the smallest reliance can be placed, the 
prospecting engineer must attack the problem of Cuban 
mining from the very beginning. All one can say at pres- 
ent is that the field is a promising one. The ore deposits 
lie near the coast, and the large shipments of iron ore, 



142 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

even in these troubled times, attest its value in the eyes of 
American buyers. However, the mining industries will be 
confined to the mountainous region of eastern Cuba. 

In looking at the future development of Cuba we have 
to consider the question 6f labor. This is of three kinds 
— white, black, and yellow. The white labor consisted of 
native Cubans, natives of the Canary Islands, and Span- 
iards, of whom the latter are far the best for general work. 

The war has seen the complete overturning of the island's 
labor system, and the destruction and demoralization of 
the laborers. No white man can do manual labor in the 
tropics continuously and live, unless he be of the Latin 
races. In the adjacent islands, especially Jamaica, there 
is a large surplus of negroes who might be attracted to 
the island, but as a laboring class these negroes are unreli- 
able ; besides, there is a potent danger, which we need not 
mention, in introducing this class into Cuba. The blacks 
of our Southern States might be drawn upon in this con- 
nection, but notwithstanding our tendency to discourage 
them at home, we have no surplus of industrious ones to 
spare. Altogether the most prolific source of laborers must 
be the southern lands of Europe, and the stream of immi- 
gration from them which now pours into our Northern 
States, if deflected to Cuba, would soon supply the demand. 

If good government be established in Cuba, it will un- 
doubtedly become the Riviera of the western hemisphere. 
For natural beauty, picturesqueness, geniality of climate, 
and opportunities for rest, amusement, and recreation, its 
diversified landscape, mineral springs, and surrounding seas 
are unequaled by those of southern France and Italy. 
Here, undoubtedly, thousands of Americans will annually 
seek winter rest and recreation when peace is restored and 
sanitation established. 

It may seem paradoxical to speak of the advantages of 
Cuba as a health-resort in its present unsanitary condition, 
but we feel no hesitancy in saying that for the overworked, 
debilitated man of business, or one whose system has be- 



THE FUTURE OF THE ISLAND 143 

come reduced, the climate and scenes of Cuba will work 
wonders ; but the atmosphere is fatal for consumption or 
other pulmonary complaints. It is safe to visit the island 
after December, and the unacclimated can remain even until 
the first of June, although in May it is very hot, and fever 
appears among the shipping. 

The chief advantage to us of the liberation of Cuba will be 
the benefits which will accrue to' our commerce, as a result of 
the removal of the restrictions upon trade. The one-sided 
condition which now exists, whereby we purchase nine 
tenths of the products of the island and sell it only one 
quarter of its food and manufactured articles, will cease. 
The lumber of our Southern seaboard, the foodstuffs of 
the Western farmer, and the manufactured articles of the 
East, will find increased and profitable consumption. 
Under any possible settlement of the political and eco- 
nomical status of Cuba, the thirty millions of annual im- 
ports from Spain would be drawn, for the most part, from 
the United States. 



SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON THE ISLE OF PINES 

The principal of the outlying islands considered geo- 
graphically as a part of Cuba is the Isle of Pines, which 
is situated about thirty-eight miles south of the coast of 
Pinar del Rio. This is the only one of the adjacent islands 
which is not merely an elevated reef or mangrove swamp, 
and which has a geologic structure and configuration com- 
parable to the mainland. Its area of 1214 square miles is 
almost equal to the combined area of the other thirteen 
hundred islands and islets. 

The island is circular in outline, and almost divided by 
a bayou, or salty depression, into two divisions, the south- 
ernmost of which is a vast cienaga, occupied only by a 
handful of fishermen. The main portion of the island is 
diversified, being dominated by a central ridge of low 



144 CUBA AND POKTO RICO 

mountains extending from east to west, rising to two 
thousand feet above the sea. Elsewhere the island is quite 
flat, consisting of land which represents a coralline plain 
recently reclaimed from the sea. 

Steamers from Batabauo run to Santa Fe and Nueva 
Gerona. The latter place is a very small town at the foot 
of the hills, with plains of palm-trees in its neighborhood, 
the town itself being on the Rio de Serra de Casa, some 
distance from its mouth. Santa Fe, which is the chief 
place of resort for travelers, is a miserable congregation of 
houses on the banks of the river of the same name, some 
distance from its mouth, and also some distance from the 
steamboat landing. This landing is a rough wooden wharf, 
from which carriages and stages ply to Santa Fe. In the 
immediate neighborhood of Santa Fe there are beautiful 
drives and walks, where the country is more rolling and 
even hilly. 

The climate of the Isle of Pines is delightful ; the air is 
pure, dry, and balmy, and the winds coming from the sea, 
passing over pine forests, are gentle and invigorating. 

The inhabitants of the island are a very simple, kind- 
hearted set of people, and very fond of a chat with stran- 
gers, with a natural dignity of manner and courteously 
hospitable ways. 

For many years a large penal colony has been maintained 
on the island, consisting mostly of Cuban revolutionists. 




CASCADE OF PLAZA DE LAS DELICIAS 




ISABEL STREET 

PONCE, POETo raco 



CHAPTER XV 

THE ISLAND OF POKTO EICO 

vSituation and physical features. Configuration. Outline. Picturesque 
topography. Drainage. Abundance of rivers. Flora and fauna. 
Geology. Climate. Hygiene and sanitation. 

OWING to current interest, the normal order of arrange- 
ment, which would lead to a consideration of Santo 
Domingo, will not be followed, but Spain's most eastern 
Antillean possession, the island of Porto Rico, will next 
be described. This has justly been spoken of as " one of 
the most lovely of all those regions of loveliness which are 
washed by the Caribbean Sea ; even in that archipelago it 
is distinguished by the luxuriance of its vegetation and the 
soft variety of its scenery." Situated at the eastern extreme 
of the Antillean chain, a thousand miles from Havana, it 
presents many strange contrasts to Cuba. Although chil- 
dren of the same mother, the Cuban island, so varied 
in relief, configuration, diversity of resources, and settle- 
ments, seems continental in proportion to Porto Rico, 
which is a small insular microcosm, only one-twelfth the 
area of the former island, and hardly equal in dimensions 
to its smallest province, yet six times more densely popu- 
lated. In form of government, and in the character and 
condition of the people, there are even stronger contrasts 
between these countries, one being a despotically ruled 
colony, whose children despise the race from which they 

10 145 



146 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

sprang ; the other an integral part of Spain, whose people 
rejoice in the name of Spaniards. The Cubans are fired 
with the spirit of progress and infected with American 
notions, while the Porto Eicans are plodding along in con- 
tentment, without permitting serious thoughts of revolu- 
tion to bring insomnia to a Utopian land where sleepiness 
is not a crime. ^ 

Porto Rico is the smallest and most eastern of the Great 
Antilles; at the same time, the most productive in pro- 
portion to area, the most densely settled, and the most 
established in its customs and institutions. It is also 
notable among the West Indian group for the reason that 
its preponderant population is of the white race, and that 
it produces sufficient foodstuffs to supply its inhabitants, 
as well as some of the neighboring islands. 

Although it nowhere attains the great altitudes of the 
other Antilles, the island is practically the eastward con- 
tinuation of the Antillean chain of uplifts. It rises from 
the shallow submerged bank which borders it for a few 
miles, and which is a continuation of that of the other An- 
tilles. Thus, with the surface of the island, it is the upward 
extension of the remarkable slope which, at least on the 
north side, descends nearly thirty thousand feet to the 
bottom of the Brownson Deep, until recently supposed to 
be the deepest hole in the world. 

Its outline presents the appearance of an almost geo- 
metrically regular parallelogram, nearly three times longer 
than broad, with its four sides following the four cardinal 
directions. The sea-line, unlike that of Cuba, is perfectly 
straight, and the coast is usually low, especially on the 
southern side, although there are a few headlands. It is 
also void of fringing keys or deep indentations of its coast, 
such as border the island of Cuba. 

Porto Eico is the smallest of the four Grreat Antilles, 
Jamaica exceeding it in size by 500 square miles. It is 95 
miles long, 35 miles wide, and has an area of 3668 square 

* Since this was ^Titten the Americans have carried liberty to the island. 



THE ISLAND OP PORTO RICO 14T 

miles. The coast-line is about 360 miles in length. Its 
area is 300 square miles greater than that of Delaware, 
Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia combined, and 
300 less than that of Connecticut. 

The general aspect of the island is that of a picturesque, 
hilly landscape. Its beautiful and fertile plains, the abun- <^ 
dance of gently flowing streams, the variety of vegetation, 
including palms which elevate their fronds above the lower 
stratum of evergreen, the bright patches of cultivated fields, 
the clear skies, mild temperature, and invigorating winds, 
give to the country a very engaging aspect. 

The configuration of the land is that of a low central 
mountain range extending through its greatest length, 
with low and broken slopes. These mountains, which are 
a continuation of the Great Antillean uplifts previously 
described, extend from the western cape, Cadena, near San 
German, to the northeast corner of the island. Their cul- 
mination is found toward the east end. Their highest 
peak, 3609 feet in altitude, is the Yunque of the Sierra 
Luquillo. The lateral extension of these mountains toward 
the south coast is here known as the Sierra de Cayey. 
The westward ramifications of the system have various 
names. Near San German there are some notable summits 
known as the Tetas de Montero. On the higher portions 
of the sierras are remnants of the virgin forests which once 
clad the entire island, and, no doubt, still constitute an 
important factor in controlling the magnificent water- 
courses which drain them. The slopes are gently rolling 
divides until they approach the littoral, where they are 
superseded by wide and beautiful plains, well drained and 
void of extensive marshlands. 

Apart from the natural wealth of her soil, Porto Rico 
has the additional advantage of being well supplied with 
water, which is generally scarce in the islands to the east- 
ward, many of which are destitute of springs. 

The northern district is moist, subject not only to the 
periodical rains of the West Indies, but also ^dsited by oc- 



148 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

casional showers. Hence its undulating surface is adapted 
to pasture and the more ordinary kinds of cultivation, and 
is intersected hy numerous perennial rivers; while the 
southern part of the island is frequently without rain for 
many months, though even there water is always found 
half a yard beneath the surface. 

Porto Eico's rivers have been among the agencies which 
have contributed most to her growth in wealth. There 
are more than twelve hundred streams, the principal of 
which are the Loiza or Rio Grande, Bayamon, Plata, 
Cibuco, Manati, Arecibo, Camuy, and Guajataca, which 
flow to the north, and the Culebrinas, Anasco, Guanajibo, 
and Mayaguez, flowing to the west ; the Portuges, Jacaguas, 
Descalabrado, Coamo, Guamani, andGuayanes, to the south, 
and the Humacao, Naguabo, and Paj ardo, to the east. Some 
of these are navigable for small vessels for a distance of two 
or three leagues, but have troublesome bars across their 
mouths. The facilities for internal navigation, for driving 
machinery by water- and steam-power, and for irrigation 
are not common on islands of this size. There is an almost 
total absence of the stagnant water which so often vitiates 
the atmosphere of tropical countries. 
■ The island contains eight small lakes, which are known 
as Martinpena, Tortuguero, Pinoiies, and Cano Tiburones, 
on the north side ; Albuf era de Joyuda, on the east ; Fla- 
mencos, Cienaga, and Guanica, on the south. 

Notwithstanding the normally peaceful conditions which 
have prevailed in this island, there has been little or no sys- 
tematic exploration of it. There is no record of any topo- 
graphic or geological survey by which either the details 
of its relief or its exact area is known. Neither has its 
geology, flora, or fauna been systematically studied. As 
remarked by a writer sixty years ago, the island is less 
known in this country than even Japan or Madagascar. 
This fact is not due to inaccessibility or difficulty of 
exploration, for hundreds of intelligent people visit it 
yearly, but merely to the fact that few have taken the 



THE ISLAND OF PORTO RICO 149 

trouble to record their observations. The sum total of 
the scientific literature of the island since the days of 
Humboldt would hardly fill a page of this book. 

Porto Rico has long been famous for the beauty of its 
flora ; but little study has been made of it. The island is 
especially noted for the number and size of its trees, par- 
ticularly those of the forests of the higher regions, which 
still persist in their primeval grandeur, the forestry regula- 
tions having been more wisely observed than elsewhere in 
the West Indies. These forests, which in a general man- 
ner resemble those of the other islands, are largely desti- 
tute of epiphytes and other parasitic vegetation, such as 
ordinarily mantle the tropical trees, except orchids. 

Among the notable trees mentioned by Eggers are sev- 
eral species of palms (Euterpe) ; a beautiful tillandsia, with 
immense odorous flowers and silvery leaves, its wood, 
called sahrino, being used for timber ; a hirtella, with crim- 
son flowers ; an unknown species with beautiful orange- 
like foliage and purple flowers; a tall lobelia; and a 
large heliconia. The tree-ferns are also represented by two 
species. Another conspicuous tree forming extensive 
woods is the Cocoloha macrophylla, with immense purple 
spikes more than a yard long. A hard wood called ausubo 
is common upon the island, which is much used, for the 
construction of building-frames. Hard and soft Spanish 
cedar, ebony, and the West Indian sandalwood — the non- 
fragrant kind commonly used for making the backs of hair- 
brushes — are common. There are also many other excel- 
lent woods for construction, locally known as''capo)blanca, C ^kx"^^ 
cap^prieto, laurel, willow, guyacan, ucar, espeguelo, moca, Cci.k 
maricao, ortegon, tachuelo, cedro, cojoba, acetillo, 'gui)a- q 
gusLOj, algarrobo, maga, yaiti, palo santo, tortuguillo, zerre- 
zuele, and guyarote. 

The natives enumerate over twenty-eight medicinal 
plants; a dozen which are used for condiments; twelve 
useful for dyes and tanning; eight resinous trees; and 
many large trees which have edible fruits, such as pines in 



/ 

I 



150 CUBA AND POETO RICO 

various classes, the cocos, the aguacate, oranges,, lemons,, 
mango, and mamey. 

There is a great deficiency of native animals of every 
sort, and especially the entire absence (if our authority 
can be credited) of those noxious reptiles and insects 
which seem to inhabit some of the West Indies as their 
peculiar possession. The island is singularly free from 
native mammals, with the exception of a single species 
of agouti, although domestic species, when introduced,, have 
flourished. In the mountains are many birds, including 

^ doves and seven other small species ; flamingos and other 

''^'"ater-birds are numerous along the coast. 

There are several species of fish in the fresh water,, 
locally known by the names of liza, robalo, dajatB, and 

;gniavina. The most interesting thing of the Porto Rican. 

-land fauna is the gigantic tortoise, differing only in size- 
t'rom the land-turtle still found on the island of Trinidad 
and adjoining parts of South America. It is closely allied 
to the large tortoise of the G-alapagos and Mascarene 
Islands, and to the fossil land-turtles found in Sombrero 
and Barbuda. 

The only geological observations upon the island are 
those which have been made by P. T. Cleve, a Swedish 
naturalist. According to him, the hills along the northern 
coast are fragments of a very thick series of limestone 
strata which has been cut through by rivulets and by 
denudation. These are very little inclined, and dip from 
the axis of the island to the sea at a very low angle. The 
summits of the high mountains are still covered by the 
Antillean limestone formations. Near San Juan this cov- 
ering is soft. In most places it is very hard, and yellowish 
white in color. These limestones contain fossils which 
show them to be identical in age with the Tertiary rocks 
of the other Antilles. Below these limestones there is an 
older formation visiljle in the mountainous parts of the in- 
terior. This consists of conglomerates and metamorphic 
rock, very similar to the older rocks of Jamaica (the Blue 



THE ISLAND OF PORTO RICO 151 

Mountain series) and of the Virgin Islands, of which they 
are probably an extension. 

It is probable that the rocks of the littoral are composed 
in part of elevated coral reef, or seboruc^o, so common on 
the other Antillean lands, but this has not been positively 
determined. Grreat living reefs abound on the eastern sub- 
merged platform along the south coast of the island, about 
four miles offshore. 

According to Cleve, gold is found in loose pieces in the 
rivers of Sierra Luquillo and Corazal, and mercury in the 
Eio Grande. Gold was formerly mined by the early Span- 
ish settlers, being found in placer deposits. Its quantity or 
occurrence cannot be definitely stated at present. Molyb- 
dena, magnetic pyrite, manganite, limonite, chrysocoUa, 
epidote, and garnet are the minor minerals found. Specu- 
lar iron is reported in several places, notably on the Rio 
Cuyul. Magnetic iron ore is also reported from Gurabo 
and Ciales. Large, fine crystals of quartz are found in the 
Rio Prieto ; agate of good quality at Kaja de MueSto^, and 
malachite at Rio Blanco. Don Pedro Resano in San Juan 
has a very fine collection of the minerals of the island, the 
specimens of which would indicate that a thorough geologi- 
cal survey of the island might be profitable. 

Among the natural features of interest in the island are 
the cave of Aguas-Buenas, in the village of the same name ; 
the grand cave of Pajita Inlares ; the cave of Muertos in 
Utuado ; the cascade of Santa 0.1alla in Bayamon ; and the 
salines of the Cacique in Guanica. There are also many 
thermal and mineral waters, such as the warm springs of 
Coamo, Quintana, and others. 

In a mountain near the center of the village of Harmi- 
gueros is the shrine of Montserrat, which was formerly 
much visited by the inhabitants of the island, and many 
from St. Thomas, Santa Cruz, Dominica, Guadeloupe, 
Curasao, and Martinique. 

Travelers claim that the climate of Porto Rico, although 
warm, is more agreeable and healthful than that of any of 



152 CUBA AND POKTO KICO 

the other Antilles. The average daily temperature is 80° F., 
but it is ameliorated by a cooling north breeze which gen- 
erally prevails during the hottest days. The mean monthly 
temperature of San Juan, as determined by observations 
extending through twenty years, is 78.9° F. The maximum 
heat, attained only three times during this period, was 99°, 
the minimum 57.2°. The thermometer usually rises to 
88° F. at midday, and sinks to 80.6° F. at night. In the 
cool mornings it ordinarily stands at 69.8° F., but some- 
times falls as low as 60.8° F. The interior highlands 
are cooler, and the nights are sometimes disagreeably so, 
although snow never falls, and hail but rarely. The cool- 
est places on the island are Adjuntas, Aibonito, Cayey, 
Utuado, Lares, and Maricao. 

The hottest months are June, July, August, and Sej^tem- 
ber ; the coolest, December, January, and February. So far 
as temperature is concerned, Porto Rico enjoys per]3etual 
summer, the mean monthly temperature hardly varjdng 
6° throughout the year, and the extreme limits being 
within 40° of each other, instead of 118° as at Washing- 
ton, D. C. 

The disagreeable land winds are seldom felt, though tropi- 
cal hurricanes are frequent between July and October. The 
forest-covered central mountains produce a marked differ- 
ence in the climate between the opposite declivities. The 
northei-n side is frequently visited by showers, while the 
southern district is often without rain for months at a time. 

The average rainfall for the past twenty years has been 
59.5 inches, or about the same as that of New Orleans, and 
only six inches less than that of Washington city. The 
driest month is February, when less than two inches fall. 
January and March have less than three inches, December 
less than four. The remaining months, from April to 
November inclusive, have over five inches of rainfall, the 
greatest quantity of the 5''ear, 7.62 inches, being precipitated 
in the latter month. 

It rains very hard and abundantly during the hottest 



THE ISLAND OF PORTO RICO 153 

months. This precipitation comes in heavy gusts with 
strong winds, as a rule between noon and 4 p. m. An 
hour later the skies appear in beautiful colors of gold, 
violet, purple, and blue. A bright, cool starlight night 
usually follows. It seldom rains or thunders at night. 

Toward the end of October, east and north winds set in. 
The first brings heavy downpours, and the latter gentle 
showers, though the south side of the island is subject to 
great droughts, to the detriment of agriculture. The great 
quantity of rainfall is very favorable to vegetation, and 
creates an infinite number of springs, brooks, and rivers. 

Although the climate of Porto Eico does not appear to 
differ materially, as far as its effects can be measured by 
instruments, from that of the other Antillean Islands, yet 
its inhabitants certainly seem to enjoy a more than 
ordinary exemption from the evils which afflict humanity 
in these sickly regions. The mortality, according to the 
published tables, does not exceed that which prevails in 
some of the more healthful countries of Europe. 

The hot and moist climate induces dysenteries and fevers 
of all kinds, especially intermittent and lingering forms 
which are very stubborn and sometimes lead to liver com- 
plications. Yellow fever occasionally visits the cities of 
the coast, but mostly in individual cases, and is not always 
epidemic. Only in certain years, at times of great heat, 
does it flourish, and even then it principally affects Euro- 
peans and newcomers. Its occurrence is probably encour- 
aged by the stagnant sewage of the cities. The natives are 
subject to colds, catarrhs, consumption, and bronchitis. 

The best season to visit Porto Rico and make the 
acquaintance of the people and country is in the months 
of January, February, March, and April. 



CHAPTER XVI 

HISTORY AND ADMINISTRATION 

Spanish character of its institutions and peoples. Uneventfiil course of 
its progi'ess. Government and administration. Rehgion and educa- 
tion. 

THE island belongs to Spain,^ to which country it is 
indebted for its discovery and conquest and present 
industrial and social status. It was discovered on Novem- 
ber 16, 1493, by Columbus, who took possession three days 
later. The conquest of the island from the aborigines 
was made in 1508 by Ponce de Leon, who founded, in the 
year 1509, the first village, near the present capital, which 
he named Caparra. 

According to Colonel Flinter, who seems to have written 
the best compendium of the island, the early history of 
Porto Rico, aside from a few attacks by English bucaneers, 
offers few features of interest. Although one of the oldest 
colonies of Spain, it served for three centuries as a penal 
station only, and its free population presented until a few 
years ago a marked specimen of the besotted ignorance 
which characterized the Spanish settlements of old times. 

The military and civil exi^enses during these years were 
defrayed from remittances from Mexico, and it was not 

1 This was written before the signiug of the protocol which gave it to the 
United States. 

154 



HISTOKY AND ADMINISTRATION 155 

until the revolution cut oif these remittances, in 1810, that 
the island, owing to the extreme embarrassment of its finan- 
cial condition, began to attract the notice of the mother- 
country. Previous to that time, Spain paid but little 
attention to her West Indian possessions, except as water- 
ing-stations for sailing-ships. Not being outwardly valu- 
able, it attracted little attention, and suffered less from ill 
government than Cuba, for instance ; the result being that 
the island remained loyal to the home country. 

In 1815 a decree was published in its behalf, distin- 
guished, like many of the early acts of the restored gov- 
ernment, by its enlightened sagacity. This decree, while 
it greatly encouraged free industries, unfortunately gave 
an impetus to the employment of slave labor, which had 
heretofore not been used — not from motives of humanity, 
but from want of capital and the indolence and poverty of 
the previous settlers, who were somewhat comparable to 
the lower white element of our own colonial times. Under 
this decree, colonists were invited to the island on the most 
liberal terms. Lands were allotted gratis ; the settlers were 
free from direct taxes, and for a certain number of years 
from the tithes and alcahala, as well as from the exporta- 
tion duties which formed at that time the most impolitic 
feature of the old Spanish system. From the period of 
this decree the prosperity of Porto Rico began, and from 
then until now the advance in wealth and population has 
been unexampled even in the West Indies. A great im- 
pulse was also given in these early years of the present cen- 
tury by the arrival of Spanish capitalists driven from Santo 
Domingo and the Spanish Main — men distinguished in the 
more prosperous times of South America for their regular- 
ity and probity in the transaction of business. __ 

In 1870 Porto Rico was made a province of Spain,] '^, 
instead of a colony, thereby acquiring the same rights audi 
government as existed in the mother-country, with repre- '^ 
sentation in the Cortes, elected by universal suffrage. The 
indisposition to political upheavals has been as conducive 



156 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

to the remarkable prosperity of the island as the excellent 
climate and soil. The government has been generally 
placid and tranquil. 

The supreme local authority is vested in a governor- 
general, also designated as military governor. For the 
government of the troops he has one deputy or military 
governor. There is also a cliputacion provincial, or elective 
council, which constituted a kind of consultative body con- 
cerning the welfare of the island. A naval commandant, 
who is attached to the department of Havana, resides in 
San Juan ; and there are various captains of the ports. 
The ordinary military forces of the island consist of three 
battalions of infantry, one of artillery with two mounted 
sections, fourteen battalions of volunteers, and four of the 
guardia civil, or military police. 

There are four courts — the territorial or supreme court, 
and three criminal courts, one each in San Juan, Mayaguez, 
and Ponce. There are also various minor justices; each 
department has a military commandant, and each village 
an alcalde, representing the government. There is also an 
intendant-general of hacienda, and a central administra- 
tion for collecting taxes. 

For administrative purposes the island is divided into 
seven departments, including seventy villages. These 
departments, named for the chief city of each, and their 
population, are as follows: Bayamon, 131,116; Arecibo, 
124,835; Aguadilla, 86,551; Ponce, 160,140; G-uayama, 
98,814; Humacao, 82,251; Mayaguez, 116,982. 

In 1897, when the so-called system of autonomy was 
offered to Cuba, Porto Rico received the same. Under it, 
the island has a premier and House of Representatives, and 
the other forms of a republican government, but they are 
all in the hands of a Spanish oligarchy, which controlled 
the island when it was still a colony. 

The official religion of the island is the Roman Catholic, 
but others are tolerated; there is one Protestant church 
in Ponce, and one each in a few of the smaller towns. 



HISTORY AND ADMINISTRATION 157 

The bishopric of Porto Eico was founded in 1504 under 
Pope Julian II, and was the first to be established in the 
New World. The diocese of the island is divided into 
many vicarages, with a multitude of curates. There is 
one bishop, attached to the archbishopric of Cuba; the 
patronage of the diocese is conferred by the governor- 
general. 

According to the Spanish standard, the condition of 
public instruction in the island is flourishing. From an 
American standpoint, judging from the illiteracy of the 
inhabitants, it is poor. The instruction is divided into 
primary, secondary, and superior. There are eight of the 
superior schools for boys, four for girls, and many of the 
elementary classes throughout the cities and rural districts ; 
there are also many private schools and seminaries, while 
in San Juan there is a college where courses are given in 
medicine and law, and a normal school for both sexes. Of 
the people, three hundred thousand can neither read nor 
write ; illiteracy is greatest among the women. A native 
writer says that " Porto Eico has literarians, but no lit- 
erature." 

In 1894 there were thirty-five newspapers and periodicals 
on the island, seventeen of which were in San Juan, seven 
in Ponce, and eight in Mayaguez. 



CHAPTEE XVII 

TKANSPORTATION, AGRICULTUKE, INDUSTRY, AND COMMERCE 

Harbors. Railways. Highways. Telegi'aph. Diversified nature of the 
agriculture. Large number of small farms. Sugar-estates. Coffee- 
culture. Menores. Importance of the cattle industry. Commerce 
and trade. Bad condition of the currency. 

THE harbors of Porto Eico are inferior to those of 
Cuba, but, locally considered, are good except for a part 
of the year. In November, December, and January, those 
of the north coast, with the exception of San Juan, are 
dangerous on account of the north winds. On the other 
hand, during the months from June to November, strong 
southerly winds cause the sea to break with great violence 
over the anchorage on the southern coast. 

The principal ports of the island are San Juan, on the 
north; Fajardo and Ensenada Honda, on the east; Ponce 
and Guanica, on the south ; and Puerto Eeal de Cabo Eojo, 
on the west. Playa, near Ponce, is the largest and best 
port on the island. There are various other small ports of 
more or less importance, which need not be mentioned in 
detail at present. 

Of late years, some attempts have been made to improve 
the harbor of San Juan. Dredging was begun in 1889, and 
reported to be carried on as fast as material would permit. 
The entrance to the channel has been widened and deep- 
ened to twenty-nine and one half feet, and now there is 
over twenty-two feet of water along the wharves. This 

158 



TEANSPOETATION AND AGEICULTUEE 159 

work was done by prison labor, the laborers getting four 
and one half pence per day. 

The island has more or less regular communication by 
vessels with Spain, England, Cuba, Santo Domingo, St. 
Thomas, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and South America. 
Moreover, two lines of steamers circumnavigate it, stopping 
at the various ports. 

Probably no part of the Antilles is more fertile than 
Porto Eico, and none so generally susceptible of cultiva- 
tion and diversified farming. A single acre of cane yields 
more sugar there than in any other of the islands except 
Cuba. Possessing every variety of tropical landscape, 
fertile from the mountain-tops to the sea, rich in pasture- 
lands, shaded with beautiful groves of magnificent palms, 
moistened by thirteen hundred streams, with here and there 
a hot spring, its agricultural possibilities are immense. 

Porto Rico is essentially the land of the farmer, and the 
most highly cultivated of the West Indies. In fact, it is 
the only island where agriculture is so diversified that it 
produces sufficient food for the consumption of its inhabi- 
tants, in addition to vast plantation crops of sugar and 
coffee for exportation. Furthermore, the land is not mo- 
nopolized by large plantations, but mostly divided into 
small independent holdings. Stock-raising is also an 
extensive industry. 

There are in Porto Rico some twenty-one thousand 
smaller holdings, the property of the peasantry of the in- 
terior, who live cheaply and work lazily, but contrive to 
raise a small quantity of sugar, together with provisions 
and cattle. If such rough cultivation as this succeeds at 
all, it can only be in consequence of the vast productive- 
ness of the soil, which gives the planter the same advan- 
tage over his brethren to windward and leeward as the 
settler of Illinois has over the cultivator of the worn-out 
" old fields " of the Atlantic coast. 

The agricultural properties of the island, according to the 
last census, were distributed as follows : tobacco-farms, 66 ; 



160 CUBA AND PORTO KICO 

cattle-farms, 240 ; large coffee-estates, 361 ; sugar-estates, 
433 ; small coffee-farms, 4184 ; farms devoted to miscellane- 
ous cultivation, 4376 ; small fruit-farms, 16,988 ; and plants 
for grinding cane, 8. 

The export productions are sugar-cane, coffee, tobacco, 
cocoa, and cotton. Sugar-cane is cultivated mostly on the 
lower slopes and plains, yielding about six thousand pounds 
to the acre. Coffee grows in the highlands, in the natural 
shade of the mountains or in that of the guama-,i guava-,^ 
bucare-,^ and maga*-trees. Owing to the troubled state of 
affairs in Cuba, prices for tobacco have increased enor- 
mously in Porto Eico. A large amount has been planted, 
and the crop promises well. 

A peculiar variety of upland rice, requiring no form of 
irrigation or inundation, is commonly cultivated on the 
hills of the central sierra. This, and yauchia {Caladmm 
esculentum) and plantain, which are grown nearly every- 
where, are staple foods of laborers. The other fruits and 
vegetables consumed on the island, and generally classified 
as menares, are the banana, platanos (plantains, which, 
when baked in the immature state, constitute the bread of 
the inhabitants), maize, beans, gaudures, and such fruits or 
vegetables as yams, yautias, sweet potatoes, the mispel 
{Achras sapota), the mango, the mamey {Mammea), the 
guanarana (Anona), the aguacate (Persea), pineapples, and 
guayavas (which are very plentiful, and manufactured into 
confections). 

The diversified agriculture of Porto Rico is also varied 
by extensive pastoral interests, which not only supply the 
inhabitants with meat, but produce hundreds of cattle of 
excellent quality for annual export, especially to the Lesser 
Antilles, which are largely dependent upon Porto Rico for 
meat as well as for work-oxen. Martinique, Guadeloupe, 
St. Thomas, and Cuba are the chief consumers. The pas- 
ture-lands are superior to those of the other Antilles. 
These lie mostly on the north and east sides of the island, 
and are covered with a nutritious leguminous plant called 

^ Inga laurinea. ^ Inga vera. ^ Erythrina hucare. * TJiespesia grandifiora. 



H 
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TKANSPORTATION AND AGEICULTUEE 



161 



malahojilla {Hymenachine striatum)^ which, the cattle con- 
sume. 

Small but hardy horses are also common. Some efforts 
have been made to improve them by the introduction of 
American breeds. The smaller domestic animals also 
abound, especially poultry. 

The principal agricultural exports in 1896, according to 
the British consul, were : 



ARTICLES. 


QUANTITY. 


ARTICLES. 


QUANTITY. 


Sugar 

Coffee 

Hides 

Cattle 


tons . . 

(( 

(( 
head. . 


54,205 

26,655 

169 

3,178 


Timber 

Molasses . 

Tobacco 


tons . . 


30 

14,740 
1,039 



There are one hundred and thirty-seven English miles 
of railroad in operation, besides one hundred and seventy 
miles under construction. A contract was made in 1888 to 
encircle the island with a railroad. A Spanish company 
was formed in Madrid, and the government guaranteed 
eight per cent, on the capital for six years, the capital not 
to exceed two million pounds. The length of the road was 
to be two hundred and eighty-three miles. One hundred 
and nineteen miles were built by 1892, but little has been 
done since, and the government refused to renew the con- 
tract. Among the lines in operation are those from San 
Juan to La Carolina, 14 miles ; from San Juan to Camuy, 
61.5 miles ; from Aguadilla to Mayaguez, 14^ miles ; and 
from Yauco to Ponce, 20.5 miles. 

One may travel by highways with a fair amount of com- 
fort all over the island. The Spaniards generally are poor 
road-builders, but in this island have done better than in 
Cuba. Many of the roads, in fact, are excellent. The 
towns are connected by highways which 'develop around 
the peripheries of the island quadrilateral. There is also 
a second quadrilateral system, which is united at intervals 
with the outer system by transverse routes. 



162 



CUBA AND POETO EICO 



There are four liuudred and seventy miles of telegraph 
line under government control, and the principal cities have 
telephone service. 

The trade of Porto Eico with other countries of impor- 
tance is about a sixth of that of Cuba. In 1895 (according 
to the " Estadistica General del Comercio Exterior ") it was 
as follows : 



Cuba 

Lesser Antilles 

United States 

Spain 

England 

France 

Germany 

Other European countries 

Total 



$808,283 
1,709,872 
1,506,512 
8,572,549 
1,765,574 

251,984 
1,368,595 

371,485 



$16,155,056 



$3,610,936 
625,010 
1,833,544 
5,824,694 
1,144,555 
1,376,087 
1,181,396 
828,709 



$14,629,494 



The foregoing figures show a balance of trade against the 
island of $1,525,562, which was largely due, no doubt, to the 
disturbances of the Cuban trade. " The Statesman's Year- 
book " gives quite different statistics, showing an excess of 
exports over imports amounting to about $1,650,000. 

The principal articles of foreign commerce in 1895, 
according to the " Estadistica General del Comercio Ex- 
terior " of Porto Eico (the latest published), were as follows : 

Imports 



Coal 

Iron 

Soap 

Meat and lard 
Jerked beef . . 

Fish 

Eice 



$119,403 
224,206 
238,525 

1,223,104 
133,616 

1,591,418 

2,180,004 



Flour 

Vegetables 

Olive-oil 

Wine 

Cheese 

Other provisions 

Tobacco (manufactured) 



$982,222 
192,918 
327,801 
305,656 
324,137 
171,322 
663,464 



industry and commeece 
Exports 



163 



ARTICLES. 


VALUE. 


ARTICLES. 


VALUE. 


Coffee 


$8,789,788 
646,556 


Sugar 

Honey 


$3,747,891 
517,746 


Tobacco 







Owing to the trouble with the currency, the rate of ex- 
change is high, running, in 1894, from three to five cents 
on the dollar. The Mexican dollar became the currency in 
1878, with a value of ninety-five cents in Spanish money 
and one silver dollar in United States money. The Ameri- 
can silver dollar depreciated in other markets, but found 
circulation in Porto Eico, until all the gold and Spanish 
dollars disappeared. In 1885 the government forbade the 
importation of Mexican dollars, and declared illegal Mexican 
coins of previous dates. Then the dates of the dollars were 
falsified, and they still circulated until the Mexican dollar 
became the only currency. 

The industries of the island are limited to the prepara- 
tion of the sugar and coffee for market, and the manufac- 
ture of tobacco, chocolate, wax, soap, matches, rum, and 
straw hats ; there are also three foundries for the manufac- 
ture of iron machinery. 



CHAPTER XYIII 

THE PEOPLE 

Statistical details of number, sex, nativity, race, and literacy. Excess of 
males. Small proportion of foreign people. Divisions into classes. 
The " Spaniards " (white Porto Ricans). The gibaros, or peasantry. 
The negi'oes. Former conditions of slavery in Porto Rico. 

THE number, sex, nativity, race, and literacy of the 
population of Porto Rico, according to the latest 
census obtainable, that of 1887, are shown in the accom- 
panying table. 

Some of the essential features of the statistics are as fol- 
lows: The small proportion of foreigners, less than one 
per cent., shows how thoroughly the population has become 
indigenous. Another peculiar feature is that the white race 
outnumbers the combined black and colored people, prov- 
ing that Porto Rico, at least, has not become Africanized, 
as have all the other West Indies excepting Cuba. Eighty- 
seven per cent, of the people are illiterate, like the mass of 
the peasantry of the mother-country, from whom they have 
descended. 

The population of the island by natural increase has 
multiplied two and one half times since the census of 1830, 
the whites having tripled and the black and colored doubled 
their numbers. The density of 221 to the square mile is 
equal to that of many of the European countries, although 

164 



THE PEOPLE 



165 



Classification of the Inhabitants of Porto Rico at the 
Last Official Census of December 31, 1887, by (a) De- 
partment; (&) Nativity; (c) Race; (d) Literacy 



DEPARTMENT. 



Bayamon 

Arecibo 

Aguadilla 

Mayaguez 

Ponce 

Guayama 

Humacao 

Vieques (Island) 

Total. . . . 



65,353 
62,410 
42,910 
58,685 
81,612 
49,087 
41,089 
3,191 



65,763 
62,425 
43,641 
58,347 

78,528 
49,727 
41,162 

2,828 



131,116 

124,835 

86,551 

116,982 

160,140 

98,814 

82,251 

6,019 



404,287 



402,421 



806,708 



NATIVITY 


FEMALES. 


MALES. 


TOTAL. 


Spanish (Porto Rieo) 

Foreigners 


401,078 
3,209 


399,885 
2,536 


800,963 

5,745 






Total 


404,287 


402,421 


806,708 





White 

Colored 

Black 

Total 



242,982 

122,434 

38,770 



237,285 

126,155 

38,981 



480,267 

248,690 

77,751 



404,287 



402,421 



806,708 



Able to read and write . 

Able only to read 

Illiterate 



57,216 

5,662 

341,409 



Total 404,287 



39,651 

8,851 

353,919 



402,421 



96,867 

14,513 

695,328 



806,708 



166 CUBA AND POETO RICO V 

only one fourth that of Barbados. Apparently the island 
has attained a sufficient number of people in proportion 
to its capacities. 

The aborigines of Porto Rico, of Arawak or Carib stock, 
were largely exterminated in 1^11, immediately after an 
uprising on their part against the Spanish soldiers. The 
survivors, enslaved, quickly vanished. The race was not 
very numerous. Espinosa, the ethnologist, says that at the 
present time no people of this race can be found, except 
a few individuals whose hair and color would indicate a 
mixture of Indian and negro. 

The native people, as a whole, may be divided into four 
classes: the better class of Creoles, who call themselves 
Spaniards ; the lower class of white peasantry, known as 
gibaros ; the colored people, or mestizos ; and the blacks. 

The Porto Rican Spaniards of the upper class, in point 
of connections and respectability, are the descendants of 
military men who, during the long period when the island 
was a mere garrison, formed alliances and settled within it. 
These people maintain the pride of their descent with all 
the stateliness of grandees, and some of them are opulent. 
This class, of white blood and Spanish feelings, opinions, 
and prejudices, so widely different from what is to be found 
in the British or French islands, forms the distinctive 
feature of the population. 

They are a good-looking, happy, and prosperous set of 
people, and they have had the time and taken the trouble 
to acquire some education. They constitute the commer- 
cial, professional, and planter classes. The ladies are 
handsome and refined, and as strictly secluded as in other 
Spanish countries. Their goodness of heart and unaffected 
frankness with their friends are charming. Those of gentle 
birth and breeding are sweet and flower-like, with the 
bright alertness of a Latin woman transplanted to Ameri- 
can soil and climate. Their glances are swift and meaning, 
and their great black eyes full of expression. Their features 
are regular. They are petite of form and have small hands 



THE PEOPLE 167 

and feet, and dress in Parisian styles, although these styles 
are usually a year or two old by the time they reach Porto 
Rico. 

As has been remarked, the peasants show clearly their 
Andalusian origin. Although indolent, they are sagacious, 
and skilful in conversation, fond of eating and drinking, 
and free in their customs, manners, and morals, as judged ^ 
by our standard. The poorest gives his best to the pass- 
ing stranger. They are not disposed to continuous labor, 
however ; nor is this necessary in so prolific a land. With- 
out much ambition or thought for the future, they are con- 
tent to live for the passing to-day. 

In the country the poorer classes are mainly engaged in 
the business of planting ; others live from hand to mouth 
in the towns or cities. The former live as nearly in a 
state of nature as the laws will allow, for the simple 
reason that it pleases them best and is comfortable. The 
children generally don the garb of civilization at or near the 
age of ten or twelve. In the interior district the coffee- 
laborer is paid in plantains; fifty plantains are a day's pay 
and on this he feeds his family and then sells the rest, los- 
ing one day per week in going to market, often twenty 
miles away. The people are very fond of amusements, 
principally gambling, in which they squander their sub- 
stance. The gambling habit is common to all classes, from 
the rich planter and priest down to the lowest beggar. 

Colonel Flinter, the historian of the island, has described 
the gibaros as like the peasantry of Ireland, proverbial for 
their hospitality ; and, like them, they are ready to fight on 
the slightest provocation. They swing themselves to and 
fro in their hammocks all day long, smoking their cigars, 
and scraping a guitar. The plantain-grove which sur- 
rounds their houses, and the coffee-trees which grow 
almost without cultivation, afford them a frugal subsis- 
tence. The cabins are thatched with the leaves of the 
palm-tree ; the sides are often open, or merely constructed 
of the same kind of leaves as the roof, such is the mild- 



168 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

ness of the climate. Some cabins have doors, others have 
none. There is nothing to dread from robbers, and if there 
were bandits, poverty would protect the people from vio- 
lence. A few calabash-shells and earthen pots, one or 
two hammocks made of the bark of the palm-tree, two or 
three game-cocks, and a machete form the extent of their 
movable property. A few coffee-trees and plantains, a cow 
and a horse, an acre of land in corn or sweet potatoes, con- 
stitute the property of what would be denominated a 
comfortable gibaro, who, mounted on his meager and hard- 
worked horse, with his long sword protruding from his 
baskets, dressed in a broad-rimmed straw hat, cotton jacket, 
clean shirt, and check pantaloons, sallies forth from his 
cabin to mass, to a cock-fight, or to a dance, thinking him- 
self the most independent and happy being in existence. 

A reviewer has noted that the descriptions of character 
which Colonel Flinter has given do not show any symptoms 
of the industry which he elsewhere attributes to the hus- 
bandmen of Porto Rico. But it is quite clear that the spread 
of these tropical backwoodsmen over the virgin soil of the 
island has prevented it -thus far from falling into the 
hands of _thesugar-monopolist ; and it furnishes a sufficient 
answer to those who imagine that a European race, living 
by its own labor, cannot exist where 80° is the average 
height of Fahrenheit's thermometer. With the gradual 
diffusion of education, of which there is a lamentable de- 
ficiency, much of the grosser part of the character of the 
peasantry may be progressively removed. 

The negroes of Porto Rico are in a minority; they do 
not form a very considerable part of the population, and 
are not distinguished by marked characteristics. With 
the gibaros they form the laboring class of the island, and 
seem thoroughly contented with their_Jot, which, as in 
:'Cuba, is much better than that of the negroes in the 
(French, English, and independent islands. 

In our description of the negro and colored populations 
of Cuba we have alluded to the social status and traits of 








PLAZA AND CATHEDRAL AT ARECIBO 




PALMS NEAR SAN JUAN 

PORTO RICO 



THE PEOPLE 169 

these people in the Spanish colonies, which are so different 
from those of the blacks in our own country and the French 
and British islands of the West Indies. The race question 
is a difficult one to discuss, for, like the taboo, race prejudice 
is possessed by all, though explicable by none. I cannot 
tell why the Spanish man of color does not affect the 
prejudice against the negro which I feel in my own and 
other countries. I only know that the former is of a differ- 
ent class. There is some reason for his superiority, how- 
ever, and perhaps it may be due to the following facts of 
history gleaned from an old volume of the "English 
Review." 

As far back as 1834 the free colored inhabitants of 
Porto Rico were by far more numerous than in any other 
West Indian island; and this fact alone— when we con- 
sider the ineradicable prejudice attached to color, which 
has brought such misery and social discomfort over a great 
part of the world— speaks volumes for its people and their 
government. The whole British West Indies contained, 
before 1834, not more than eighty thousand free colored 
inhabitants, in a population of ten times that number ; of 
these, sixteen thousand were to be found in Trinidad 
alone, an island which had long been governed by Span- 
ish laws. Although white blood is in Porto Rico, as every- 
where else beyond the Atlantic, a patent of nobility, yet 
the gibaro no more treats with contempt and contumely 
his inferior in caste than the grandee of old Spain his infe- 
rior in station. 

But the good treatment of the slaves was the basis upon 
which the polity of the island formerly rested. Small as 
was their number, we may safely say that, in every com- 
munity in which slavery was recognized, it gave a character 
to the whole society ; the people in general were licentious, 
cruel, disorderly, according to the estimate they formed of 
the lowest class. 

It was while avarice ruled the earlier conquerors of 
America, and seduced them into practices revolting to 



170 CUBA AND POKTO KICO 

human nature, that the foundations were laid of a code of 
laws, both for slaves and for the native Indians, the spirit 
of which has ever prevailed among the Spanish Creoles, 
and which shames nations that arrogate to themselves the 
title of enlightened. Shallow thinkers have often enter- 
tained the paradox that free states show less humanity in 
their colonies than is shown in those under absolute mon- 
archies. Of all West India annals, those of the French 
islands before the revolution were perhaps the most darkly- 
stained with cruelty, and their quondam slaves, the Hai- 
tians, are now the lowest of the West Indian negroes. The 
free states of South America, on the other hand, have 
not only followed, but have still further extended, in the 
midst of their anarchy and factional fighting, those prin- 
ciples of Christian mercy and justice toward the black man 
which Spain alone, until recently, knew and practised. 

By the Spanish laws, the hours of labor, the amount of 
food and clothing, and various other particulars in the 
treatment of the slaves, were minutely and humanely 
specified. Owners were obliged to have their slaves 
instructed in the elements of Christianity, so that they 
could be admitted into the church by baptism within a 
year after their importation. Twenty-five stripes formed the 
maximum of punishment. The regulations for the encour- 
agement of marriage were so favorable to the slaves that 
they often ]3roved burdensome to the owner. These are 
only a few items of a clement code which seems to have 
been so seconded by the natural humanity of the people as 
to have left as little of misery and shame attached to ser- 
vitude as was compatible with its miserable nature. 

Finally, when emancipation was given (in 1873), the in- 
dustry of the Spanish islands, alone of all the West Indies, 
survived the effects, the planters being able to continue 
their agricultural operations without financial ruin and 
social disorganization. 

The prosperity of Porto Rico is shown quite as much in 
its increased population as its general material progress. 



THE PEOPLE 171 

Since the middle of the last century the social condition of 
the inhabitants has undergone a complete change. At that 
time there were no towns, and the inhabitants assembled 
only on feast-days at the central point in each parish. 
They dwelt in rude hovels, and their only utensil was the 
calabash. An empty bottle was handed down as an heir- 
loom to the favorite son. At present, more than one half 
of the inhabitants have gravitated toward the towns, espe- 
cially those on the seaboard, and trade has familiarized 
them with modern inventions. 



CHAPTER XIX 



CITIES OF POETO RICO 



San Juan. Ponce. Mayaguez. Aguadilla. Arecibo. Fajardo. Nagnabo, 
Arroyo, San German, and small towns. Islands attached to the gov- 
ernment of Porto Rico. 

PORTO RICO has many centers of population, includ- 
ing the chief cities of San Juan, Ponce, and Maya- 
guez, and over fifty smaller towns which are the centers 
of small departments having a population of from six 
to thirty thousand inhabitants. The population is so 
dense that, with the exception of the unsettled area of the 
highest portions, the island presents the aspect of a con- 
tinuous series of farms and small villages. The people 
center in towns and villages, whence the laborers proceed 
to the fields to work. All the towns are built upon the 
same general plan, with ornately colored, stuccoed houses, 
roofed with red tiles, usually narrow streets, and always an 
attempt at a central park or plaza with gardens, benches, 
and promenades. Some of these towns, like San German 
and Aguada, date back to 1511 ; a larger number were built 
during the eighteenth century. Nearly twenty of the towns 
originated within the present century, however, showing 
that the urban development of the island has not been 
retarded. 

In the present chapter we shall describe the larger com- 
mercial cities, which are mostly seaports. 

172 



CITIES OF PORTO EICO 173 

San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico, as the capital of the 
island is officially designated, is situated near the east 
end of the north coast, on an island united to the mainland 
by the bridge of San Antonio, It is the oldest settlement 
on the island, having been founded in 1511. The main 
portion of the city lies on a long and narrow island shaped 
much like an arm and a hand ; it is about two and a quarter 
miles long, and averages less than one fourth of a mile in 
width. The greatest width is a little over half a mile, in 
the portion representing the hand, which also contains the 
major part of the city. This is separated from the main- 
land at one end by a shallow arm of the sea. A bridge 
connects the city with the mainland, which runs out at 
this point in a sand-spit, some nine miles in length. At 
the other end, the island ends in a rugged bluff or prom- 
ontory, some hundred feet high and three fourths of a 
mile distant from the main shore. This promontory is 
crowned by Morro Castle, the principal fortification. 

At the north the entrance to the harbor is a narrow 
channel with rocky bottom, so close under the headland 
that one can almost leap ashore from a passing vessel. 
The water here is some thirty feet deep. To a mariner 
unacquainted with the locality, or to any mariner when a 
norther is blowing, this entrance is one of difficulty and 
danger. After rounding the bluff, one finds a broad and 
beautiful bay, landlocked and with a good depth of water, 
which is being increased by dredging. It is by far the best 
harbor in Porto Rico, but it has its drawbacks. Sailing- 
vessels are frequently detained by the northerly winds 
during the winter months, and even steamers with a draft 
of over twenty feet are sometimes delayed ; but these oc- 
casions are rare. When these storms occur, the hoca, or 
entrance to the harbor, is a mass of seething, foaming 
water, and presents an imposing spectacle. To see steamers 
of sixteen to eighteen feet draft enter in a severe norther 
is a sight to be remembered, as the great waves lift them 
up and seem about to hurl them forward to destruction. 



174 CUBA AND POKTO RICO 

At sucli times there is need of a stanch vessel, steady- 
nerves, and a captain well acquainted with the channel, as 
no pilot wdll venture out. 

San Juan is a perfect specimen of a walled town, with 
portcullis, moat, gates, and battlements. Built over two 
hundred and fifty years ago, it is still in good condition 
and repair. The walls are picturesque and represent a 
stupendous work and cost in themselves. Besides the 
town within the walls, there are small portions just out- 
side, called the Marina and Puerta de Espaiia, containing 
two or three thousand inhabitants each. There are also 
two suburbs— one, San Turce, approached by the only road 
leading out of the city, and the other, Catano, across the 
bay, reached by ferry. The Marina and the two suburbs 
are situated on sandy points or spits, and the latter are 
surrounded by mangrove swamps. 

The city has several important and imposing fortifica- 
tions, which were commenced in the year 1534, the oldest 
of which is San Catalina ; Morro Castle, the principal de- 
fense, was built in 1584; and Canuelo and San Cristobal 
were finished in 1751. Against the seaward front of the 
massive walls of the Morro the ocean pounds and thun- 
ders. A broad parade-ground is inclosed within the walls 
westward from the citadel, and not far off is the largest 
house of the city— no less a structure than the ancient 
castle of Ponce de Leon. His ashes are also kept here in 
a leaden case. 

Inside the walls, the city is laid off in regular squares, 
six parallel streets running in the direction of the length 
of the island, and seven at right angles. The streets are 
wider than in the older part of Havana, and will admit two 
carnages abreast. The sidewalks are narrow, and in places 
will accommodate but one person. The pavements are of 
a composition manufactured in England from slag ; pleas- 
ant, even, and durable, when no heavy strain is brought to 
bear upon them, but easily broken, and unfit for heavy 
traffic. Three streets beautifully shaded by trees are 



CITIES OF PORTO EICO 175 

known as the Princesa, Puertfi^de Tierra, and Govadonga ; 
four spacious plazas with seats are provided for recreation. 
The streets are swept daily by hand, and are kept very 
clean. 

Among the large, and imposing public buildings are the 
casinOj the Casa Blanca, the cathedral, the administrative 
building, the barracks of 'O^alagay the Casa de Beneficencia, ^<^ ^^^ 
the seminary, the theater, the Intendencia, the Diputa- 
cion Provincial, the institute, the Eeal Audiencia, the 
aduana or custom-house, the residence of the military 
governor, that of the captain of the port, the Presidio 
Provincial, the San Geronimo, the Santa Elena, the 
Carmelite convent; the churches of San Jose, San Fran- 
cisco, La Capilla, Santa Ana, Ermita del Santo Cristo, and 
St. Augustine ; the civil hospital, the College of the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus, the public warehouses, the Yacht Club, 
the railway-station, the Bank of Spain and Porto Rico, 
the office of the administrator-general of communications, 
and the Hotel Inglaterra. There are also many large stores 
and shops, tastefully arranged, and filled with all kinds of 
European goods. 

The residences occupied by the more respectable people 
are the upper floors of the two-story buildings, while the 
ground floors, almost without exception, are given up to 
negroes and the poorer class, who crowd one upon another 
in the most appalling manner. One small room, with a 
flimsy partition, will house a whole family. 

There is but little manufacturing, and it is of small 
importance. The Standard Oil Company has a small re- 
finery across the bay, in which crude petroleum, brought 
from the United States, is refined. Matches are made, 
some brooms, a little soap, and a cheap class of trunk. 
There are also ice, gas, and electric-light works. In 1892 
a contract was made with a London company to build an 
aqueduct for supplying the city with water. The muni- 
cipality guaranteed seven per cent, interest on the cost, not 
to exceed ninety liiousand pounds, to be finished in two 



176 CUBA AND POKTO KICO 

years. Floods and other difficulties have prevented its 
completion. A British company was formed in 1875, with 
a capital of thirty- six thousand pounds, and given a mo- 
nopoly of twenty-five years for lighting the public streets 
with gas. This undertaking was not. successful, and in 
1897 a New York company was organized to construct an 
electric-light plant. The same company also obtained a 
concession for electric cars. 

The port is constantly visited by a multitude of sailing- 
vessels and steamers of all nationalities, while telegraph, 
railways, and coasting-vessels afford free communication 
with all parts of the island. 

The city has a board of trade and several local insurance 
societies. As usual in Spanish cities, many social organ- 
izations exist, the principal object of which is pleasure, 
although they are nominally founded upon a benevolent 
basis. Among these are the Society for the Protection of 
Intelligence, the Grand Economic Society, and the Friends 
of Peace. Others have simpler names, such as the Athe- 
naeum, the Casino Espanol, the Casino de San Juan, etc. 
The principal benevolent institutions are the orphan asy- 
lum, having two hundred and seventy children under its 
care; the College of St. Ildef onset', for the education of 
poor children ; the military hospital, the insane asylum, the 
maternity hospital, and the Hospital of Santa Rosa. 

The entire population of the city and suburbs, according 
to the census of 1887, was twenty-seven thousand. It is 
now (1898) estimated at thirty thousand. One half of the 
population consists of negroes and persons of mixed race. 
The population within the walls is estimated at twenty 
thousand, and most of it lives on the ground floor. 

From its topographic situation the town should be 
healthful, but it is not. The ground floors reek with filth, 
and conditions are most unsanitary. In a tropical coun- 
try, where disease readily prevails, the consequences of 
such herding may be easily inferred. The soil under the 
city is clay mixed with lime, so hard ^s to be almost like 



CITIES OF POETO RICO 177 

rock. It is consequently impervious to water and fur- 
nishes a good natural drainage. The town is unprovided 
with running water. The entire population depends upon 
rain-water, caught upon the flat roofs of the buildings, and 
conducted, in every case, to the cistern, which occupies 
the greater part of the inner courtyard that is an essential 
part of Spanish houses the world over, but that here, on 
account of the crowded conditions, is very small. There 
is no sewerage, except for surface-water and sinks, while 
vaults are in every house and occupy such space as there 
may be in the patios not taken up by the cisterns. The 
risk of contaminating the water is very great, and in dry 
seasons the supply is entirely exhausted. Epidemics are 
frequent, and the town is alive with vermin, fleas, cock- 
roaches, mosquitos, and dogs. Just under the northern 
wall of the Castle of San Juan is the public cemetery, the 
gate being overhung by an ornate sentry-box. The bones 
of evicted tenants of graves, whose terms of tenancy have 
expired, are piled in the corner of the inclosure— a most 
revolting and unsanitary practice. 

The trade- wind blows strong and fresh, and through the 
harbor runs a stream of sea-water at a speed of not less 
than three miles an hour. With these conditions, no con- 
tagious diseases, if properly taken care of, could exist; 
without them the place would be a veritable plague-spot. 

Ponce, near the south shore, is about ninety miles south- 
west from San Juan by a fine road running diagonally 
across the island. This city, founded in 1752, has fifteen 
thousand inhabitants, and is second only to San Juan in 
population. It has a large adjacent rural population, 
numbering twenty-eight thousand people. 

The city is on a plain about two miles from the suburban 
seaport of Playa, with which it is connected by a fine 
highway. Playa has about five thousand inhabitants, and 
here are situated the custom-house, the office of the cap- 
tain of the port, and all the consular offices. The port is 
spacious and will hold vessels of twenty-five feet draft. 



178 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

The physical aspect of Ponce is the most picturesque on 
the island, on account of the beautiful plains which sur- 
round it, and the elegant and ornate structures of the 
inhabitants. 

The plaza known as Las Delicias has pretty gardens and 
an ornate Arabian kiosk. There is a cathedral at Ponce, 
and a Protestant church. White-gypsum quarries are 
worked, and there are medicinal baths, the warm waters 
of which are recommended for cutaneous diseases. The 
city is regularly built, the central part almost exclusively 
of brick houses, and the suburbs of wood. The houses, all 
built of stone, are very similar to those in San Juan. It 
is the residence of the military commander, and pos- 
sesses a chamber of commerce. There is an appellate 
criminal court, besides other courts ; two hospitals besides 
the military hospital; a home of refuge for the old and 
poor, a perfectly equipped fire department, a bank, a thea- 
ter, three first-class hotels, and gas-works. The city has an 
ice-machine ; also establishments for hulling coffee, distill- 
ing rum, and manufacturing carriages, and a large sugar- 
grinding plant. There are one hundred and fifteen vehicles 
for public conveyance. The inhabitants are principally 
occupied in mercantile pursuits; but carpenters, brick- 
layers, joiners, tailors, shoemakers, and barbers find good 
employment. The chief occupations of the country people 
are the cultivation of sugar, cocoa, tobacco, and oranges, 
and the breeding of cattle. 

The climate, on account of the sea-breezes during the 
day and land-breezes at night, is not oppressive, though 
warm ; and as water for all purposes, including the fire 
department, is amply supplied by an aqueduct. Ponce is 
perhaps the most healthful city on the island. 

The commercial city of Mayaguez, the third in impor- 
tance, was founded in 1752. It is situated in the western 
part, facing the Mona Passage. The population is nearly 
twenty thousand, the majority white. Of industries there 
is little to be said, except that there are three manufac- 



CITIES OF PORTO EICO 179 

tories of chocolate, for local consumption. Sugar, coffee, 
oranges, pineapples, and cocoanuts are exported largely — 
all, except coffee, principally to the United States. Of 
sugar, the muscovado goes to the United States and the 
centrifugal to Spain. Mayaguez is the second port for 
coffee, the average annual export being one hundred and 
seventy thousand hundredweights. The quality is of the 
best, ranging in price with Java and other first-rate brands. 
The lower grades are sent to Cuba. About fifty thousand 
bags of flour are imported into this port every year from 
the United States, out of the one hundred and eighty 
thousand bags consumed in the whole island. 

The climate is excellent, the temperature never exceed- 
ing 90° F. The city is connected by tramway with the 
neighboring town of Aguadilla, and a railroad is being con- 
structed to Lares, one of the large interior towns. 

Near the city is a beautiful plain watered by the Rio 
Mayaguez, and which, like the country around San Juan 
and Ponce, is noted on the island for its fine state of culti- 
vation. This is said to have been the place of disembarka- 
tion of Columbus on his second visit to the island in 1493. 
Most of the people are engaged in commerce. 

Aguadilla, founded in 1775 (population five thousand), 
is the principal town and the port of Aguadilla district, in 
the northwest portion of the island, and is noted for its 
fish, cane, sweet oranges, and lemons. The village has 
beautiful trees surrounded by choice grazing-lands ; it 
has a pretty plaza divided into four parts, in each of 
which is a little garden with a statue in its center. The 
cultivation of sugar-cane, coffee, tobacco, and cocoanuts, 
and the distillation of rum from molasses, are the indus- 
tries of the neighborhood. In the town are three estab- 
lishments for preparing coffee for exportation. The 
climate is hot, but healthful; yellow fever almost never 
prevails. 

Arecibo, which is locally known as the most loyal town, 
was founded in 1788, and is a thriving place of seven 



180 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

thousand inhabitants. It is situated on the north coast 
of the island, facing the ocean and adjoining an exten- 
sive sandy beach bathed by the waters of the Atlantic. 
In the adjacent lands along the river Arecibo are valuable 
plantations of coffee, sugar, etc. There are also fine pas- 
tures near here. From an ornamental central plaza, 
surrounded by public buildings, the streets run at right 
angles, forming regular squares. The buildings are con- 
structed of wood and brick. The city has a large church, 
a good theater, and pleasing public buildings. From Are- 
cibo a road leads to the cave of Consejo, framed by a 
multitude of irregular arches which pierce the rock and 
which are lined by many crystallizations of calcite. 

The harbor is poor, being nothing more than an open 
roadstead exposed to the full force of the ocean, in which 
vessels, during northerly winds, can hardly lie in safety. 
Close inshore, on one side, stretch dangerous reefs, a 
constant menace to vessels if their anchors do not hold. 
Into this harbor empties a narrow and shallow stream 
called the Rio Grande de Arecibo. Goods are conveyed 
on this river to and from the town in flat-bottomed boats, 
with the aid of long poles, and by dint of much patient 
pushing. At the bar of the river everything is again 
transferred into lighters, and thence to vessels. It is a 
tedious and expensive process. However, Arecibo is quite 
an important port, and has tributary to it a large district 
of some thirty thousand inhabitants. The want of good 
roads on the island makes such a place as Arecibo far 
more important than it would otherwise be. 

Fajardo, founded in 1774, is on the east coast of the 
island, and has a population of 8779 according to the last 
official statistics (December, 1887). The port is handsome, 
with a third-class lighthouse at the entrance, at the point 
called Cabeza de San Juan, and a custom-house open to 
all commerce. The town is about one and a quarter 
miles from the bay. The only important industry of the 
district is the manufacture of muscovado sugar, to which 
most of the planters devote themselves. Shooks, hickory 



CITIES OF POKTO EICO 181 

hoops, pine boards, and provisions come from the United 
States in considerable quantities. Sugar and molasses 
are exported, and occasionally tortoise-shell. The climate 
is temperate and healthful. 

Naguabo (on the east side) has only about two thou- 
sand inhabitants, and in <the harbor there is another 
smaller place, called Playa de Naguabo, or Ucares, with 
about fifteen hundred. The capital of the department, 
Humacao, is nine miles from Naguabo, and has four 
thousand inhabitants, the district comprising more than 
fifteen thousand. This department contains many fruit- 
and cattle-farms, and also grows much coffee. The lands 
are well irrigated by streams. 

Arroyo, in the district of Gruayama (southeast portion), 
is a small seaport of about twelve hundred inhabitants. 
The annual exports to the United States average seven 
to ten thousand hogsheads of sugar, two to five thousand 
casks of molasses, and fifty to one hundred and fifty casks 
and barrels of bay-rum. It is surrounded by a fertile 
country devoted to the cultivation of sugar-cane. 

San Grerman, situated on the large hill near the river 
Guanajibo, founded in 1511, is in a district having a popu- 
lation of 19,887 people, many of them well-to-do. There 
are three public plazas, on one of which is the church, 
with altars of marble, and an antique convent belonging 
to the Dominicans. The city has a seminary, hospital, 
and other institutions. The adjacent lands formerly pro- 
duced large crops, but have deteriorated; nevertheless, 
they are still more or less productive. 

Many villages of the interior are situated in the high- 
lands and noted for their cooler temperature, shade, and 
waters. Among these are Aguas Buenas, surrounded by 
coffee- and fruit-gardens ; Cidra, with its beautiful forests 
and tall trees; Cayey, in the central cordillera, nestled 
amid pretty forests and farms of rice and coffee ; Barros, 
near the center of the island, noted for its coffee, woods, 
and excellent cattle. 

Adjuntas is also situated in the central cordillera, and 



182 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

its topographic position gives it fresh air. In this vi- 
cinity a number of beautiful streams run in all directions 
through fertile valleys, while the adjacent elevated moun- 
tains are covered with coffee- and fruit-farms. 

Aibonito is one of the highest villages in the island, and 
has a very refreshing temperature. The surrounding 
country produces large quantities of excellent coffee. 

Rio Piedras, in a clay and limestone district, boasts a 
resort known as La Oonvalecencia, which is frequented 
by the governors-general. Caguas has beautiful pastures, 
sugar-estates, and fruit-farms; also quarries of marble 
and lime. Bayamon is proud of a fine iron bridge, a small 
iron-factory, and a petroleum-refinery. Anasco, on a river 
of the same name, has a large sugar-grinding plant, and 
the fertile surrounding country produces large crops of 
beans, vegetables, sugar, and coffee. Aguada, founded in 
1511, also claims to be the most ancient village on the 
island; the adjacent lands are of fine quality. Another 
large sugar plant is situated at this village. 

Of the smaller towns and villages of Porto Rico little 
can be said. They are numerous and scattered throughout 
the island, each being the center of an agricultural com- 
munity; each contains its plaza, church, administrative 
building, and a few stores, together with the usual assem- 
blage of lawyers, doctors, and other professional men, 
including the escrihanos, or professional letter-writers for 
the illiterate. There are also blacksmiths and wheel' 
Wrights. Few of these towns have hotels or other accom^ 
modations for the traveler. Private entertainment is so 
customary and hospitable that the native always finds a 
friend w^ho gladly entertains him. 

ISLANDS ATTACHED TO THE GOVEENMENT OF POETO EICO 

Theee are three small islands adjacent to Porto Rico, 
which constitute parts of its political organization. These 
are Mona, on the west, and Culebra and Vieques, on the 



m 



CITIES OF PORTO RICO 183 

east. These all rise in line with the Antillean trend from 
the same submerged platform, and are probably remnants 
of once more-connected masses of land. 

Dependent on the department of Mayaguez is the island 
of Mona, which gives its name to the broad channel flow- 
ing between Porto Rico and Santo Domingo. It is sur- 
rounded by perpendicular cliffs, white in color, about one 
hundred and seventy feet high, full of holes, and with 
numbers of grottoes or caves. Mona terminates on the 
west in a bold headland topped by a huge overhanging 
rock known to seafarers by the suggestive name of Caigo- 
o-no-Caigo (" Shall I fall or not?"). The neighboring islet 
has been christened Monito, the " Little Monkey." 

Vieques and Culebra are known as the Islas de Pasaje, 
because they lie in the passage between Porto Rico and 
the Virgin group. Culebra Island, the more northern of 
these, is two leagues long and one league wide, and has a 
population of five hundred; its products are principally 
minor fruits, which are sent mostly to St. Thomas. The 
island has no running streams, but water is supplied by a 
public cistern. 

The island of Vieques, known otherwise as Crab Island, 
about thirteen miles east of Porto Rico, is to that island 
what the Isle of Pines is to Cuba. The principal settle- 
ment is located on a bay on the southeast side. The 
island is twenty-one miles long and six wide. Its land is 
very fertile and adapted to the cultivation of almost all 
the fruits and vegetables that grow in the West Indies. 
Cattle are raised and sugar cultivated. It has a popula- 
tion of some six thousand. The people are very simple 
folk and poorly educated. The town Isabel Segunda is 
on the north, and the port is unsafe in times of northerly 
wind, like all the anchorages on that side ; the few j^orts 
on the south are better, the best being Punta Arenas. 
Not long ago there were two importing and exporting 
houses on the island of Vieques; but, on account of the 
long period of drought and the high duties on imported 



184 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

goods, trade has decreased to local consumption only. All 
supplies are brought from San Juan, the majority being 
of* American origin. The climate is fine and may be con- 
sidered healthful ; there have never been any contagious 
diseases. 

In conclusion, we ma}^ add that it is by no means certain 
that there will be great opportunities for the acquisition of 
wealth in Porto Rico, by the exploitation of either the 
agricultural or mineral resources by emigrants of the 
United States. The conditions that have prevailed for 
centuries cannot be changed in a day. The lands to which 
titles have been held for hundreds of years cannot be 
alienated in a short time. Even the lands which may be 
won to our government by right of conquest will have 
to remain inaccessible for a time. 



1 




HARBOR OF PORT ROYAL 

JAMAICA 



CHAPTEE XX 

JAMAICA 

Geographical features of the island. Its central position in the West 
Indies. The Blue Mountain scenery. The limestone plateau. The 
coast border and plains. Flora, fauna, climate, sanitation. 

A LTHOUGH Jamaica is not more richly endowed by 
r\ nature than Cuba, Porto Rico, and Santo Domingo, 
yet, because of the administration of a beneficent govern- 
ment, it ranks as the most beautiful and salubrious of 
the four Grreat Antilles. Here alone has a stable and 
civilized government been established, which has per- 
mitted the development of the possibilities of the soil and 
climate, and, by enforcing sanitation, education, and public 
order, has enabled us to see how high a degree of culture 
may be attained in the West Indies. 

(^Jamaica is an elevated prolongation of the submerged 
bank which extends southwestward from the island of 
Santo Domingo, and lies entirely south of the main An- 
tillean ridge formed by Cuba, Santo Domingo, and Porto 
Rico, and five degrees south of the latitude of. Havana. It 
is south of the western half of the Sierra Maestra coast- 
line of Cuba, from which it is sixty-five nautical miles 
distant.) Between these islands is the eastward prolon- 
gation 'of the great Bartlett depression, three thousand 
fathoms deep. The eastern coast is about the same dis- 

185 



186 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

tance from Cape Tiburon, the western point of Haiti, and 
is separated therefrom by one thousand fathoms of water. 
On the south lies a wide stretch of the Caribbean Sea, two 
thousand fathoms deep. Cape G-racias a Dios, on the 
western coast of Honduras, the nearest Central American 
land, is seven hundred and eighty nautical miles distant. 
To the southwest extend the Rosalind and Pedro banks, 
less than five hundred fathoms deep, which constitute an 
extensive shallow submarine platform connecting Jamaica 
with the Central American littoral. 
'^The island is at almost the exact center of the great 
American Mediterranean. It lies just half-way between 
Galveston and the mouth of the Orinoco, the southern 
point of Florida and the northern part of South America, 
the eastern end of the Antilles (St. Thomas) and the west- 
ern indentations of the Gulf of Honduras, and the most 
northern of the Bahamas and the Gulf of Atrato. This 
position is important from political, geographic, biologic, 
and geologic points of view, and makes the island a typical 
base of study for one interested in Antillean problems. | 

Its outline is that of an elongated parallelogram whcise 
corners have been obliquely truncated, resulting in a wide 
oblong area from whose east and west ends project two 
broad peninsulas. Its extreme length is one hundred and 
forty-four miles; its greatest width is forty-nine miles; 
its least width, twenty-one and a half miles, between 
Kingston and Annatto Bay. Its longest axis lies in an 
east-and-west direction. The area is 4207-^ square miles — 
less than one tenth that of Cuba, and five hundred square 
miles greater than that of Porto Rico. 

From the sea Jamaica appears as a group of mountain 
summits rising sharply above the expanse of water in a 
tangled mass of forest-covered land, apparently without 
systematic types of relief b3^ which its configuration can 
be classified. The higher summits of the eastern end are 
usually veiled in clouds, so that only their lower slopes 
are visible. The mists are apparently forever present in 



JAMAICA 187 

the upper regions, for one can seldom catch a view of Blue 
Mountain Peak, the monarch of the system. As the coast 
is more closely approached and the island encircled, the 
configuration resolves itself into well-differentiated forms. 

The uplands do not slope gradually to the sea, but are 
terminated near the coast by very abruptly truncated 
bluffs and steep slopes, usually, but not everywhere, sepa- 
rated from the sea by a narrow strip of plain, as if the 
original coast margins of the mountainous upland had 
once extended much farther seaward and had been hori- 
zontally planed away by the beating sea. This abrupt sea 
face of the mountainous upland is a marked topographic 
peculiarity, which we shall call the back-coast border. 

The chief features of the topography are the superb 
summits of the Blue Mountain ridge of the east, sur- 
rounded by a lower but rugged plateau of white-limestone 
hills, which extends westward and largely occupies the 
western two thirds of the island. The secondary features 
of the topography are interior basins and valleys in the 
summit of the plateau, certain coastal benches and terraces 
carved out of the margin of the back-coast border, occa- 
sional patches of low coastal plain, and deep-cut drainage 
valleys. 

The Blue Mountain ridge, a sinuous divide with many 
bifurcating branches, extends one third the length of the 
island, from near the eastern point toward Port Maria, and 
has a trend of north of west, parallel to the truncated 
northeast coast. It presents a serrated crest-line with 
radiating laterals, whose summits culminate near the 
center of the ridge in the Blue Mountain Peak (7360 feet). 
West of this peak the heights gradually decrease until 
they become lower than those of the limestone plateau. 
The central ridge and numerous laterals, which project 
from it at right angles, present steep angular profiles, like 
that of an inverted letter V. Its configuration is singu- 
larly free from benches, mesa-tops, or cliffs. 

Imagination can picture no more exquisite scenery 



188 CUBA AND POKTO KICO 

than that of these mountains. It equals that of Tyrol, 
but is entirely different in detail, as can be seen in the 
ascent of Blue Mountain Peak. With increasing altitude 
panorama after panorama of tropical landscape unfolds 
in rapid succession. At Gordontown, nine miles north of 
Kingston, where the interior margin of the Liguanea plain 
abruptly meets the mountain front, the ascent begins 
through the red-colored cliffs of the Hope River canon, 
which here, at an altitude of nine hundred feet, debouches 
into the gravel plain. A thousand feet above us, the white 
buildings of Newcastle Barracks look like doves upon a 
housetop ; yet later we climb so far above them that they 
seem like toy houses below. At two thousand feet the 
plain of Liguanea, upon which Kingston is built, with its 
neighboring villages and shipping, grows smaller and 
smaller, and finally appears like a diminutive plaza below 
us. Sometimes our path clings to the mountain-side, with 
an apparently endless slope above and a bottomless chasm 
below. Again, it follows a knife-edge, from which we can 
see beyond, on both sides of the island, the waters of the 
Caribbean, so distant and so far below that no horizon 
can be distinguished where the gray of the sea meets that 
of the sky. G-reat ocean steamers plying their way look 
like minnows basking on the surface of a lake. Still 
higher we look down upon the forest-covered summits 
of the limestone plateau, which appears below as an 
unbroken meadow, its rugged hills and canons seemingly 
obliterated. 

Each step of the way is marked by wonders of the 
vegetal kingdom. At the foot is the semiarid south- 
coast chaparral, with exogenous banana-plants, cocoanut- 
trees, native cactus, and acacias. Ascending Hope River 
canon, the delicate deciduous flora of the island is first 
met. Vast trees of the forest, draped with tillandsia, 
mantle the slopes, while the cliffs are burdened with 
begonia and ferns,— golden, silver, and delicate maiden- 
hair,— besides many little flowers which find foothold 




MOUNTAIN SCENERY 




NEWCASTLE BARRACKS 

JAMAICA 



JAMAICA 189 

in the rocks. From one to four thousand feet, planta- 
tions of coffee are numerous, because of the congenial 
temperature and moisture which this most fastidious 
shrub demands. At five thousand feet the government 
has used a suitable environment for a cinchona-farm. 
Above six thousand feet, in an atmosphere of perpetual 
humidity, tree-ferns, the most exquisite of tropical plants, 
appear and clothe the summit. In this climate alpine 
heights and slopes offer no obstacle to human occupation, 
and to an altitude of four thousand feet they are well 
populated. On the summit a hut has been provided for 
the tourist to camp in for the night. 

There are many other conspicuous peaks of the Blue 
Mountain ridge, but few of them have received local 
names. Sugar-loaf Peak, which lies just east of Blue 
Mountain Peak, is a part of the latter. To the west are 
Sir John's Peak, John Crow Hill, Silver Hill, and St. 
Catherine's Peak (5036 feet). These high summits are 
situated near the central portion of the main ridge, which 
is crossed by five passes with altitudes varying between 
three and four thousand feet. 

East of Kingston there are few practical openings 
through the Blue Mountain ridge which are passable on 
horseback. One of these is that of Cuna-Cuna, between 
Port Antonio and Bowden, which traverses some of the 
most rugged and beautiful scenery on the island. Its 
altitude is 2698 feet. A good highway crosses the island 
through a pass in the ridge cut by the waters of the Wag 
Water (Agua Alta), between Kingston and Port Maria. 

The Blue Mountain ridge is not a rock-ribbed projec- 
tion of granite, lava, or other enduring rock, like our 
New England hills, but is composed of friable or loosely 
consolidated shales, clays, and conglomerates, with here 
and there an exceptional local bed of limestone or an 
occasional dike or mass of soft and decomposed igneous 
rock. The result is a configuration of wonderful knife- 
crests, slopes, and points, rather than cliffs and table-lands. 



190 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

When one considers the softness of the material, and how 
rapidly degradation is going on and has gone on, he can 
but conclude that the mountains were once of much 
greater altitude and extent. There is no reason why 
their summits in times past may not have extended as 
high as their kindred in the Sierra Maestra of Cuba, over 
eight thousand feet, or in Santo Domingo, over ten thou- 
sand feet. 

The old Blue Mountain rocks reappear in many places 
in the great central valleys of St.-Thomas-in-the-Vale, 
Clarendon Parish, Great River, and elsewhere to the west, 
where the later crust of the white-limestone plateau has 
been worn away. They are also seen in the face of the 
back-coast bluffs along the western half of the north side 
of the island, below the limestone and above the narrow 
coastal benches. They are all parts of the same grand 
Antillean system which we have previously described. 

The western two thirds of the island is occupied by the 
great white-limestone plateau, a wonderful and diversified 
region of hills, valleys, and exquisite landscapes. This 
feature, a later addition to the geologic architecture, is a 
dissected plain, which has been carved and cut into a 
thousand hills, pitted with wonderful sink-holes and 
valleys, and covered with exquisite vegetation. Its main 
area stands like a shoulder some two thousand feet high, 
extending westward from the still higher sierras, although 
a narrow belt or collar of it completely encircles the east- 
ern end of the island. 

As a whole, the profile of the plateau, could the irregu- 
larities of erosion be eliminated, would be a very gentle 
arch slojDing north and south toward the adjacent seas. 
The curves of this arch, if continued, would not meet the 
sea at the present margin of the land, but would intercept 
it quite a distance beyond the shores, indicating that the 
former borders, now restricted by the agencies which have 
sculptured the steep margins of the plateau, were once 
much more extensive. 



JAMAICA 191 

By tacit consent, the innumerable eminences of the 
plateau are called hills in Jamaica, to distinguish them 
from the central mountains. The higher summits of the 
plateau are found near the center of the island, one 
of which, Mount Diablo, is reported to be 3053 feet in 
altitude. 

The materials of the plateau and its outliers are soluble 
white limestones like those of Cuba— sheets of old cal- 
careous oceanic sediments, now hardened into subcrys- 
talline texture, which weather into ragged honeycombed 
surfaces or dissolve away under the tropical rainfall into 
a unique configuration of roughly serrated hills, basins, 
and deep drainage- ways leading to the sea. Some of the 
basins are called cockpits— wonderful funnel-shaped sink- 
holes, often five hundred feet or more in depth, with steep 
acclivities ascending into pointed conical hills no less 
angular than the pits. Then there are great basin-shaped 
valleys, themselves an evolution of the cockpits, consist- 
ing of deep holes with wide, flat bottoms, in which the 
plantations are situated, inclosed by rugged limestone 
walls which rise from twelve to twenty-five hundred feet 
above them (the height varying in different localities) and 
separate the valleys by wild and uninhabited uplands. 
These valleys differ from one another chiefly in area. In 
many cases, although well watered, they have no outlet, 
while in others the barriers have been partially eroded, 
and they are drained by rivers leading to the sea. 

The largest and most populous of these depressions are 
those of St.-Thomas-in-the-Vale, the great Vale of Claren- 
don surrounding the Clarendon Mountains, the Hector 
Elver basin in northern Manchester, and the Niagara 
River Valley along the boundary of St. Elizabeth and St. 
James. Montpelier Valley, along Great Eiver in Han- 
over, and Morgan's Gut Valley in Westmoreland, are 
similar basins which have had drainage-gaps cut through 
their surrounding barriers. The latter now constitutes an 
interior embayment of the great plain of Savana-la-Mar. 



192 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

The beautiful valley of St.-Thomas-m-the-Vale is almost 
circular in outline, and its floor has a diameter of ten 
miles. Its alluvial bottom is largely covered with charm- 
ing fields and villages. The mountainous scenery en- 
circling it is beyond description. From Ewarton can be 
seen a band of white limestone rising on the west side of 
the valley in a gentle arch, and extending for miles toward 
Moneague. This band has a steep face and is crested by 
rugged points forming the plateau summit. The culmi- 
nation of this arch is Mount Diablo. Some ten copious 
streams drain this valley, and gather into a single arterial 
outlet, the Rio Cobre, by which they pass to the sea 
through the narrow gorge of the picturesque Bog Walk 
canon. These streams have their sources in springs or 
caverns in lower portions ■ of the hilly borders of the 
valleys. 

The Clarendon Valley, in the geographic center of the 
island, is about fifty miles long and twenty-five miles 
wide. Its longer direction corresponds with that of the 
axis of the plateau. While this valley is of the same 
general type and origin as that of St.-Thomas-in-the-Vale, 
it differs from it in the fact that steep mountains rise 
from its center like the crown of a hat above the rim, the 
valley proper being an annular area lying between these 
mountains and the surrounding white-limestone escarp- 
ments. The drainage, like that of St.-Thomas-in-the-Vale, 
concentrates into an arterial trunk known as the Minho, 
through the canon of which it escapes to the south coast. 

The pouch-like basin of Hector Eiver is almost connected 
with the northwest end of Clarendon basin, but has no 
direct outlet to the sea ; they are separated by a barrier 
of low hills. The stream from which the basin takes its 
name rises from springs at its west end, and sinks into 
the limestones to the east. Cave Valley in St. Ann Parish 
is four miles in diameter, and is separated from the Clar- 
endon Valley by a limestone ridge less than a mile in 
width. 




EAST INDIAN COOLIES, JAMAICA 



JAMAICA 

West of the Clarendon basin similar circular depressions 
occur at short intervals, such as those at Oxford, on the 
boundary of the parishes of Manchester and St. Eliza- 
beth ; the great head- water amphitheater of Black River, 
St. Elizabeth ; the basin of Niagara River ; the Mulgrave 
and Ipswich sinks; the Cambridge basin; the basin at 
the head of Roaring River, and the King's Valley basin 
near Jerusalem, the last two of which open into the 
Savana-la-Mar (" Plain by the Sea "). Of these the Niagara, 
Mulgrave, and Ipswich basins have no drainage outlets. 
The basins above described constitute a line of depres- 
sions along the central axis of the plateau. North of 
these, in the high plateau region of the parishes of Tre- 
lawney and St. Ann, are other basins. There are many 
other smaller and less important sinks in the western 
portion of the island, but those I have enumerated show 
the character of these widely distributed phenomena. 
From my descriptions it will be seen that many of these 
sinks have no outlet, although in their bottoms may be 
found limpid streams of water. The barriers of others, 
like those of Anchovy, Montpelier, Cambridge, and Ches- 
terfield, lying along Great River, have been broken by cap- 
turing drainage, and they have become connected with 
one another or with coastal plains. Others, like the Clar- 
endon and St. Thomas valleys, were once entirely inclosed, 
but in later times have found narrow outlets through 
single gorges. The coastward barriers of still others, like 
the basin of Westmoreland, have been largely destroyed. 

The back-coast border, as distinguished from the narrow 
strips of coastal plain at its foot, presents a steeply sloping 
mountainous sea-front of chalky cliffs rising sharply above 
the sea, except where cut through by drainage ; its sky-line 
has an average altitude of twelve hundred feet along the 
north coast. To the ordinary traveler this topography is 
principally interesting from its charming scenic features. 
To the student it reveals a series of most interesting 
ancient terrace levels, representing the successive steps in 




194 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

the elevation of the island above the sea. Some of these 
are beautifully shown on .the east side of Montego Bay, 
where six distinct levels, or benches, separated by deep 
slopes, rise above one another in stair-like arrangement. 
At no other siugle locality are so many of these shown 
in such close juxtaposition, but one or more of them can 
be individually distinguished at many localities around the 
island, some of them being as high as two thousand feet. 
At a single glance these terraces in Jamaica do not present 
the perfection of the allied phenomena exhibited on the 
southeast coast of Cuba, but, nevertheless, they record a 
similar geologic history. 

Naturally the integrity of these benches varies with 
their relative age and altitude. The higher ones are more 
fragmentary, because degradational processes have longer 
been working upon them. Fragments of the lower 
benches are better preserved, although much broken by 
erosion, while none is as perfect in contour as are the 
benches of the coastal plain. All have been cut across by 
rivers, etched and dissolved by rainfall, and undermined 
by encroachment of the waves ; but they are, nevertheless, 
remarkable features. 

A narrow strip of low coast plain occm's here and there 
interruptedly around the island, between the sea and the 
back-coast border. In some places this is an old beach 
only a few feet wide ; in others it has greater width, and 
indents the back-coast border for miles. These patches 
of coastal strip are either elevated reef rock, like the 
seborucco of Cuba, marginal stretches of white sea-sand, 
or land-derived alluvium ; and they present minor features 
of relief. 

The coastal plains and slopes covered with alluvium 
are often extensive areas, especially on the south side of 
the island. The largest of these is the plain of Liguanea, 
upon which Kingston is situated. This plain is over 
twenty- five miles in length, and its width, which averages 
six miles, is greatest near its western end, in the district 



JAMAICA 195 

of Vere Parish in Clarendon, where it is about fifteen 
miles. In all, it includes about two hundred square 
miles. 

In comparison with the other regions of the island the 
physical aspect of this plain is arid and sterile ; the flora, 
including thorny acacias and cactus, tends toward the 
chaparral type characteristic of the Eio Grande plain of 
Mexico and Texas, and is strikingly unlike the delicate 
deciduous tropical flora of the remainder of the island. 
Back of Savana-la-Mar there is another extensive plain 
which continues inward nearly one half the distance across 
the island. Plains of this character are singularly absent 
from the north side, except at Montego Bay, adjacent to 
the mouth of Montego River, where they are less feebly 
developed than on the south coast. 

Jamaica revels in an abundance of streams — not navi- 
gable rivers, but beautiful and rapidly flowing creeks, rush- 
ing through exquisite valleys over stony bottoms, and 
affording a wealth of waters for the» needs of man. They 
are copious and voluminous, but not so deep that the 
dusky damsel need submerge her cargo or unduly elevate 
her skirts, as, without relaxing her majestic strides, she 
wades across, or as she laves to snowy whiteness the linen 
which she spreads upon the banks to dry. 

Cutting-grass-spots and Deans rivers in Westmoreland, 
and Content River in Hanover, are other examples of 
these peculiar streams. It is supposed that their waters, 
after sinking into the ground, in some instances find a 
subterranean way coastward through the porous lime- 
stones. 

Besides the rivers there are many beautiful pools and 
springs. The numerous mineral springs are locally noted 
for their curative powers. The hottest of these is at 
Bath, in the parish of St. Thomas, with a temperature 
of 126° F. The waters are sulphuric and contain a large 
proportion of hydrosulphate of lime. They are sup- 
posedly beneficial for gout, rheumatism, cutaneous affec- 



196 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

tions, etc. The bath at Milk River, in the district of Vere, 
is another thermal spring of interest. Its waters have a 
temperature of 92° F., and are saline and purgative. 

The drainage of the Blue Mountain districts is frequent 
and constant in occurrence and copious in run-off, while 
in the region of the limestone plateau it is superficially 
somewhat deficient, often disappearing Id to underground 
caverns or breaking out of them in a remarkable manner. 
As a whole, the island presents two major types of 
streams — one, simple rivers flowing to either coast; and 
the other, the rivers of the interior basins, which have no 
outlet to the sea. 

The streams of the first class in the mountain region 
are marked by deep V-shaped canons in their upper 
courses, and great deposits of ancient alluvium in their 
lower parts. The run-off of these is constant, but variable 
in quantity, owing to torrents. The streams found in the 
basins of the plateau region rise from springs, flow for 
short distances, then disappear into the ground without 
visible outlet to the sea. Of this type of rivers are the 
Minho ; Rio Hoe, near Moneague ; Great River, in the 
southeast corner of St. Ann; Pedro River, which sinks 
at the corner of St. Ann, Clarendon, and St. Catherine 
parishes; and Yankee and Cave rivers, which unite and 
disappear into a sink on the borders of St. Ann and 
Clarendon. The latter stream is ten miles long. Hector 
River, forming the boundary of Manchester and Tre- 
lawney, sinks at the northeast corner of St. Elizabeth; 
Hicks River, in Trelawney ; Pine and Dry rivers, in the 
northern part of St. Elizabeth; Niagara, Chester, and 
Tangle rivers, in the southern part of St. James. 

Jamaica also possesses many interesting caverns. The 
Cave of Mexico in St. Elizabeth, through which Black 
River flows, is probably the largest. Cave Hall Pen, near 
Dry Harbor, is of great length and has two branches ; the 
various rooms are designated grottoes, halls, domes, and 
galleries, and are lined with beautiful stalactites and 



JAMAICA 197 

stalagmites. The Grrand Cave at River Head, in St.- 
Thomas-in-the-Vale, is a very remarkable place. The Rio 
Cobre, after sinking into the limestone, again emerges 
from this cavern. Peru Cave in St. Elizabeth, the 
Mount Plenty Cave in St. Ann, the Mouth River Cave 
in Trelawney, the Portland Cave in Vere, the Epping 
Forest Cave in Manchester, are other notable caverns. In 
some of these interesting remains of the aborigines have 
been found. 

We cannot here describe all the many objects of natural 
interest on the island. Its mountains, valleys, rivers, and 
coasts are everywhere beautiful to behold. It is a land of 
pleasant driving and riding, an ideal country for bicycling, 
and every portion is pleasing to the eye. The highest 
mountain-peaks are easily accessible on horseback. Many 
go to Blue Mountain Peak in order to obtain the superb 
view and to see the sunrise, which is said to be most won- 
derful. I almost doubted if it rose at all the day we made 
the ascent, so thick were the clouds and mist ; but we were 
rewarded by other sights. 

The prospect from Newcastle Barracks also excites the 
enthusiasm of all travelers. The wide expanse of moun- 
tainous region, rugged with sharp declivities and ravines, 
is covered with the most varied vegetation. Lying far 
below are Kingston, the sea, and the stretch of the coast. 

Yet with all of its great differences of altitude, its rush- 
ing rivers, the wide expanse of surrounding sea, the 
scenery of Jamaica is not wild or crag-like, nor does it 
impress one with the immensity of some less mountainous 
regions. The massive grandeur and distant outlines of 
the mountains are largely lost, owing to closeness of view 
and the enveloping clouds. It is only the exquisite ver- 
dure and delicacy of the vegetation, and the dewy mists 
that hover over them, that hold the rapt attention. In 
the western parishes upon the limestone plateau, where 
sculptured hills and valleys everywhere abound, to the 
wealth of form are added marvelous colors. The pale 



198 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

greens of the bam]:>oo patches rustling like feathery plu- 
mage, the dark evergreens of the pimento- and mango-trees, 
the old gray-greens of the orchid-decked ceibas, and the 
splashes here and there of growing cane-fields of an inde- 
scribable ]3ale turquoise-blue green, adding lighter touches 
to the emerald background of the forest setting, overwhelm 
one with a beauty which changes with every passing cloud 
or angle of the sun into wonderful blues, purples, and 
olive tints. 

This gentler aspect of the landscape is not diminished 
by the touch of man. The well-built roads, the neat stone 
walls, the comfortable homes of the planters, the sleek, 
browsing cattle, add to the beauties of the tropical land- 
scape the charms of the English countryside. 

Although the flora of Jamaica is of the same tropical 
character as that of Cuba and Porto Rico, already de- 
scribed, it has certain local variations. Everywhere there 
is a wealth of trees — mangos, ceibas, wild oranges, palms, 
plantains, and many others. One looks in vain, however, 
for the royal palm, the pride of Cuba; but in its place 
Jamaica possesses the pimento- [Pimenta officinalis) or 
allspice-tree, which grows nowhere else. The giant ceiba, 
the Jamaica cedar, the logwood, and fustic are other 
common trees. G-rasses, orchids, and small flowers 
abound. Begonias and ferns border the roadsides, and 
tradescantia covers the stone walls. This flora shows 
considerable variation in different parts of the island. On 
the southern coast, at the foot of the mountains, it is of 
an arid tyjDe, comprising many species of thorny acacias, 
includiug the mesquit of our own southwestern chap- 
arral, and a tall species of cactus of the Cereiis tribe. 
Other than these, there is hardly a plant on the island, 
which has a thorn. In the western portion much of the 
country has the aspect of an open forest carpeted with 
grass. In this portion the pimento abounds, the pro- 
duct of which — our commercial allspice — is a source of 
much revenue to the island. Besides the native flora. 



JAMAICA 199 

there are many introduced plants, which will be mentioned 
later among the agricultural products. 

Jamaica cannot boast of a single native mammal, 
although the island is overrun by the exotic mongoos. 
This small weasel-like animal constantly crosses the high- 
way before the traveler, infests the yards, and seems to 
pop out from every bush and stone. It was originally 
introduced for the purpose of destroying the Norway rat, 
another immigrant, which bade fair to eat up the cane- 
fields. The experiment was unsuccessful. The mongoos 
did not exhibit any particular predilection for a diet of 
rat, although the latter was so frightened that it was forced 
to change its habitat from the ground to the tree-tops, 
and, instead, feasted upon the native birds and reptiles, 
which had hitherto benefited the island by keeping 
down the injurious insect life, especially the field-tick, 
which, with the destruction of its natural enemies, in turn 
began to increase enormously. Chickens, puppies, cats, 
and other domestic animals were devoured by the mon- 
goos, and the blacks believe the dusky piccaninny was 
included in the list. In later years, however, the ticks 
have assailed the mongoos, and the latter is succumbing 
to them. Besides a large iguana, there are many smaller 
species of lizards and a few harmless snakes. 

The scorpion and centipede are slightly poisonous, but 
neither very dangerous nor abundant. Ants, mosquitos, 
and sand-flies are common in the lowlands, but the uplands 
are singularly free from insect pests. The butterflies, 
beetles, and fireflies are beautiful, the latter including 
fourteen kinds besides the beautiful Cuban elaterid, 
which carries upon each shoulder a miniature electric 
light. Gosse, the naturalist, who lived in Jamaica for 
eighteen months, enumerates twenty different song-birds, 
besides the parrots, pigeons, and a great variety of water- 
fowls. The crocodile, the manatee, and the West Indian seal 
inhabit the adjacent sea borders. A few species of fresh- 
water fish are found in the rivers. Edible marine fish 



200 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

are singularly few around the island. As in Cuba, land- 
snails are large and numerous. Domestic animals of all 
kinds, except the sheep and goat, abound. The island has 
some beautiful estates where fine breeds of cattle are 
raised, principally for the purpose of producing hardy 
oxen for the sugar-plantations. 

xllthough the climate of Jamaica varies greatly with 
altitude and topographic situation, it is in general pleas- 
ant, healthful, and salubrious, the cold northern winds 
which affect Cuba being hardly felt, and the temperature, 
therefore, being much more uniform throughout the year. 
The low sea-coasts are the warmest portions, the larger 
part of the habitable island, at altitudes of from one to 
three thousand feet, being decidedly cooler. The southern 
sea-coast, at the foot of the Blue Mountain range, is warm 
and arid, much like the Santiago coast of Cuba. As one 
ascends the slopes the precipitation increases and the tem- 
perature falls rapidly, until in the higher portions the cli- 
mate is wet and cool. The mean temperature at the coast 
is 78.2° F. ; at 2000 feet, 73° ; at 5000 feet, 62.6° ; at 5500 
feet, 60° ; at 7400 feet, 55.7°. 

At Kingston, one of the hottest and driest places on 
the island, the highest temperature during ten years 
was 89.7° F., and the minimum 67.8° ; the maximum for 
the period averaging 87.8°, and the minimum 70.7°, 
showing a range of only 17°. 

The climate of the plateau region is especially pleasant, 
the temperature in St. Elizabeth, for instance, having an 
annual variation of only 9°, fluctuating between a mini- 
mum of 07° and a maximum of 75°. 

The rainfall at Kingston is only 44 inches, while on the 
north side of the island it is 88, even reaching 100 inches . 
upon the higher mountain slopes. The average for the 
whole island is 66. 

Residents of Jamaica are naturally subject to tropical 
diseases, such as malarial fevers, dysentery, and diarrhea ; 
but owing to the perfect system of local sanitation and 



JAMAICA 201 

quarantine, the island is remarkably healthful and ordinarily 
as free from epidemics as our own Southern seaboard, the 
death-rate being only 20.9 per 1000 for the island. These 
figures, when contrasted with the vital statistics of Cuba, 
Haiti, and Martinique, where no serious efforts are made 
to offset the natural drawbacks of tropical climate, show 
that the mortality of the Antilles can be greatly reduced. 

The quarantine establishment is most thoroughly 
organized. Competent officials guard every port, and a 
fine lazaretto has been constructed at Green Bay, opposite 
Port Royal, with first-class accommodations for those who 
may be detained. The quarantine laws are enforced with 
the greatest severity, so much so that intercourse with 
Cuba, Haiti, and other places where yellow fever per- 
manently exists through neglect, is almost prohibited, 
although this practically isolates Jamaica commercially 
from near-by lands with which much trade might be 
developed. 

Not only is every precaution taken to guard against 
the introduction of disease, but the island is kept in a 
thoroughly sanitary condition. Cleanliness is stringently 
enforced and the water-supply carefully guarded from 
pollution by a central board of health, with district medi- 
cal officers in every parish, assisted by the constabulary 
and backed by the support of public opinion. 

Notwithstanding these stringent precautions, yellow 
fever is occasionally introduced into the island, as it is in 
our own Southern cities. In 1897 an epidemic of this 
disease was brought by Cuban refugees who smuggled 
themselves into the country. Ordinarily the island is free 
from this scourge, which is in no manner indigenous. 



CHAPTER XXI 

JAMAICA {Continued) 

A model British colony. Respect for law and order. Early history and 
administration. Agricultm-e. Rise of the fruit industry. Commerce. 
Railways. Excellent highways. 

THE universal aspect of order and the respect for law 
that everywhere prevail in Jamaica are no less con- 
spicuous than the natural beauties of the island, and are 
noted by any one who has traveled in the more unruly 
places of the tropics. The dread of unconscious violation 
of some trivial law which haunts one in Cuba, the feeling 
of being watched as in Porto Rico, the suspicion of some 
other person's hand in your pocket as in Mexico, the fear 
of brushing against prevailing contagion at every step as 
in Martinique, Santo Domingo, and Haiti, are sensations 
which do not worry the traveler here. The stranger is 
welcomed with a sincere hospitality and courteous greet- 
ing ; the island is clean, and the laws are for the protection 
of the visitor as well as of the resident— not the robbery of 
the individual or the enrichment of the official. Thieves 
are confined in j)rison ; those infected with loathsome dis- 
eases are isolated together; rigid quarantine keeps con- 
tagion out, and health-officials attend to public sanitation. 
Neatly uniformed constabulary of respectful mien and 
open eyes see that the laws are obeyed, and the poorest 

202 



JAMAICA 203 

negro as well as the richest planter feels that they are for 
his special benefit and protection, and respects them in a 
spirit which is not found even in our own country. In 
fact, in the government of Jamaica we have an example of 
that perfection of colonial administration in which Eng- 
land excels. 

The name Jamaica is derived from a native word, 
" Xaymaca," signifying the " island of fountains." Among 
illiterate natives the name is still pronounced " Hamiky." 
The island was originally settled by the Spaniards in 
1509. In contrast with the Spanish mode of procedure in 
the other Antilles, the first governor reduced the natives 
without bloodshed ; but his successors carried on a work 
of extermination. During the century and a half of 
Spanish occupation several small towns were settled, and 
the Castilian nomenclature, though now sadly corrupted, 
was given to many of the natural features. Among these 
were the names of Manteca, now corrupted into Montego ; 
Mont Agua, now Moneague; Boca del Agua, now Bog 
Walk ; and Agua Alta, now Wag Water. 

In 1665 an English fleet sent by Cromwell to capture 
Santo Domingo, having been repulsed from that island, 
indemnified itself by seizing Jamaica. At that time the 
population was only three thousand, one half of whom 
were Spaniards. The latter migrated from the island to 
Cuba, but their race imprint was left upon the other half 
of the people who remained, as is still shown in certain 
words of the language and habits of the island. England 
immediately began colonization with settlers of all kinds 
drawn from the West Indies, Scotland, and Ireland, and 
since the conquest Jamaica has remained a loyal English 
colony, devoted to the government, customs, and tra- 
ditions of the mother-country. Owing to beneficent 
privileges granted the colonists, the population rapidly 
increased. Although the English official and landlord 
always constituted the ruling class, there were among its 
accessions a large number of African slaves and Jewish 



204 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

traders. The mixture of these pecuhar elements of the 
seventeenth-century population — Spanish, mulattos, ne- 
groes, apprenticed Scotch, Irish, and English peasantry, 
Minorcan Jews — has gone far toward producing the pecu- 
liarities and language of the lower classes of the present 
Jamaican people. 

Shortly after the establishment of English control, 
Jamaica became a busy center of bucaneering and the 
slave-trade. The old town of Port Royal, through its 
superior advantages as a maritime and naval station, 
became a great stronghold. It was here that the famous 
corsair Morgan prepared his expeditions, and in 1762 Lord 
Abercrombie organized the land and naval forces that 
reduced Havana ; and here the slave-traders brought their 
newly captured negroes from Africa, to be distributed 
throughout the West Indies and tropical mainland. 

Jamaica, according to Bryan Edwards, attained the 
meridian of its prosperity in 1780, at which time it was 
occupied by large plantations worked by African slaves^ 
and operated by resident English owners who lived in 
princely state. The island was then the most productive 
of England's West Indian colonies. The same author 
estimates that 2,130,000 blacks were imported by the 
Bristol and Liverpool slave-traders between the years 
1680 and 1786, and that 610,000 of these were landed at 
Port Royal. 

In 1807 the importation of slaves was abolished by 
G-reat Britain, and in 1833 the remaining 309,000 slaves 
were emancipated, the owners being liberally remunerated. 
Owing to the English system of slavery, as distinguished 
from that of the Spanish colonies, concerning which we 
have spoken in our descriptions of Cuba and Porto Rico, 
the freeing of the blacks resulted in the almost total ruin 
of the Jamaican plantations, and the island has never re- 
gained its agricultural and commercial prestige since that 
event. The free negro preferred to earn his living by in- 
dependent efforts, and showed a dislike for plantation 
labor. The better class of landlords pocketed the profits 



JAMAICA 205 

of emancipation, sailed back to England, and left their 
estates to degenerate in the hands of agents and overseers. 

The history of the island has been unmarked by any 
serious political disturbances, excepting an occasional 
uprising of the slaves and rebellion of the maroons. 

During her possession of the island England has made 
various experiments in devising a suitable form of govern- 
ment for the colony. It was at first under a military 
jurisdiction. Then came a period of general assemblies 
under a governor appointed from England, which lasted 
two hundred years ; then in 1866 a crown government, with 
a legislature consisting exclusively of official and nomi- 
nated members. In 1884 the present mixed legislative 
system of nominated and elected members came into 
force. 

The island is divided into three counties and twelve 
parishes. The counties are Surrey on the east, Middlesex 
in the center, and Cornwall on the west. The function of 
the county divisions is not clear, the parishes being the 
chief subdivisions, each of which sends a representative 
to the colonial assembly. 

The executive consists of a colonial governor ap- 
pointed by the crown, and' having strong supervisory 
powers, assisted by a colonial secretary, an attorney- 
general, a director of public works, a collector-general, 
and the senior officer in command of the military forces. 
The legislative powers are vested in a council, or colo- 
nial legislature, consisting of nine elected members, two 
nominated members, and the administrative officers above 
mentioned. There is also a privy council. The adminis- 
trative forces of the island are thoroughly organized 
under a most efficient system of civil service, admission 
to which is gained by fair competitive examination. The 
departments include land, auditor's, treasury, customs, 
excise, and internal and revenue departments. The 
postal and telegraph service is thoroughly equipped. The 
object of the government medical service is to diffuse 
naedical assistance throughout the several parishes, by 



206 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

inducing practitioners to locate themselves in districts 
which without some contribution from the government 
would be altogether destitute of medical aid and advice. 
Under this department there are eighteen public hospitals 
throughout the island, with a total of 1117 beds. 

The police system is most thorough, consisting of a 
constabulary of seven hundred and seventy men, with 
over one hundred stations scattered throughout the island, 
and several prisons and reformatories, in which prevails 
the mark system of the English convict prisons, after 
which the Elmira (New York) Reformatory is modeled. 
The prison system includes a penitentiary with male and 
female di^dsions, and industrial schools and reformatories 
for both sexes. 

Not the least interesting part of the Jamaican adminis- 
tration is the thoroughness with which statistics are 
gathered. An excellent registration department records 
the births, deaths, baptisms, and marriages, while infor- 
mation can be readily obtained on any desired subject. 
There is also a board of supervision, having charge of out- 
door relief of the poor. The government printing-office, 
the botanical gardens, and the government laboratory are 
also embraced in the administrative organizations. 

A notable public feature is the Institute of Jamaica, 
located at Kingston. This is a public lyceum and museum 
maintained at colonial expense. The library is rich in 
Jamaican and early West Indian literature, while the 
museum presents a splendid illustration of the island 
fauna, flora, and archaeological objects of interest. Public 
lectures are given, and the publications of a scientific and 
historic nature are appreciated throughout the world. 

The courts are thoroughly organized, embracing a 
supreme court of judicature with nine justices, from 
which in certain cases appeal may be taken to the council. 
This court also has supervision over the findings of the 
lower court in British Honduras. There is an encum- 
bered-estate court, an admiralty court, resident magistrate 
courts, and coui-ts of petty service. 



JAMAICA 207 

Grood schools are everywhere provided, and attendance 
is compulsory. There were nine hundred and twenty-four 
government schools in 1896, having an enrolled atten- 
dance of one hundred thousand children. There are nine 
hundred and twelve public free schools throughout the 
island. The figures in the last report of the superinten- 
dent inspector of schools show an unprecedented advance 
in attendance, due to the abolition of school fees by the 
legislature in the spring of 1892. The effect of this has 
been shown in the rapid decrease of illiteracy. There is 
a government training-college for female teachers, under 
the charge of educated Englishwomen. Sixty male stu- 
dents are also being trained at a local educational insti- 
tution in Kingston at government expense. There are also 
a number of free schools, denominational schools, high 
schools, and industrial schools. In addition to the local 
educational institutions, scholarships are provided where- 
by residents of the island can obtain higher education in 
England. The island is one of the centers for the local 
examinations held by the University of Cambridge. 

While the majority of the Jamaicans belong to the 
Church of England, the latter was disestablished and dis- 
endowed as the official religion of the island in 1870. This 
church has about one hundred and fifty parishes through- 
out the island. The Scotch Kirk, the Catholics, the Bap- 
tists, the Presbyterians, the Congregational Union, the 
Wesleyans, the United Methodists, the Christians, Mora- 
vians, and Hebrews are all numerously represented. The 
Jamaicans, as a rule, are remarkably punctilious in their 
church attendance, and on Sundays the country roads are 
lined with the people going to and from the numerous neat 
chapels everywhere to be found. 

The general revenue for the year 1895-96 amounted to 
$3,069,000. Of this sum more than one half was raised by 
import duties, in accordance with the principle of indirect 
taxation which prevails in all the British colonies. The 
remainder was raised by excise duties, principally on rum 
manufacture. The total expenditure for the same year 



208 



CUBA AND PORTO RICO 



amounted to $2,987,666. The public debt is $7,581,000, 
most of which is for the recently constructed railway 
systems, irrigation canals, and new bridges. 

In general the government of Jamaica is humane, 
civilized, and just. In fact, the perfection of its organiza- 
tion and working seems too good for an island whose 
population is not yet entirely out of the savage state. 
"What might Cuba have been with such a government? 

xlgriculture is either flourishing or decadent in Jamaica, 
according to the point of view. The large English estate- 
owners, shorn of the old-time profits of sugar-culture, 
believe that the island is in its decadence, because of the 
extermination of this industry. Americans and the natives 
believe, however, that Jamaica has passed through the 
crucial tribulations resulting from its former dependence 
upon the sugar-producers, and is entering, for the first 
time, upon a state of true prosperity, owing to the in- 
creasing number of diversified small farms. 

The island embraces about 2,700,000 acres, of which 
about 80,000 acres, or 2.97 per cent., are estimated to be 
occupied by swamps or lands otherwise useless for agri- 
culture. About 12 per cent., or 330,000 acres, are covered 
by forests. There are now beneficially occupied in culti- 
vation about 694,000 acres, or a little more than one foui'th 
of the whole cultivable area. The following table shows 
the area occupied by each crop and the annual value of the 
export products. 



Ground provisiona 

Pimento 

Sugar-cane 

Coflfee 

Bananas 

Cocoanuts 

Cocoa 

Tobacco 

Ginger 

Guinea-grass 

Common pasture . 



95,808 

63,193 

30,036 

25,559 

19,227 

10,940 

1,632 

261 

84 

126,877 

342,020 



$2,055,510 

1,617,684 

1,594,048 

116,024 

99,881 



JAMAICA 209 

The circumstances of sugar-raising in Jamaica are of a 
special character, and cannot be exactly compared with 
those existing in the other British colonies, which are 
solely dependent upon this product, and are suffering 
financial ruin, owing to the competition of the beet-root. 
The cultivation of sugar-cane, instead of being the sole 
agricultural industry, as in many of the other West Indies, 
constitutes only nineteen per cent, thereof. The majority 
of the Jamaican sugar-estates are small, the average having 
only one hundred and seventy-eight acres, and they are 
for the most part widely dispersed, so that plants for 
grinding cannot be conveniently established. The cost of 
management is therefore increased. The product is 
largely manufactured into rum, the annual output of 
which is a little over two million gallons. The quality of 
the cane is fair. Borer and fungoid diseases have not 
seriously affected it, as in the Lesser Antilles. Before 
slavery was abolished, Jamaica was one of the largest 
sugar-producing islands. In 1805 it exported one hundred 
and fifty-one thousand hogsheads of sugar and five million 
gallons of rum ; but the planters seemed utterly incapable 
of adapting themselves to the new conditions of labor after 
the freeing of the blacks, and many of the former cane- 
fields are now turned into ruinate. The decay of the sugar 
industry, however, has been accompanied by a progressive 
increase in the cultivation of more diversified products 
and the acquirement of small estates by the black inhabi- 
tants. A department of gardens and plantations, under 
capable and experienced men, has carried on experiments 
which, while supporting the old, have encouraged the estab- 
lishment of many new and promising agricultural indus- 
tries. Furthermore, the government has been fortunately 
administered during that period by progressive and able 
governors, who have constantly adopted a policy whereby 
it was possible to extend the railways and improve com- 
munication by parochial roads and the encouragement of 
rapid steamship lines to the United States, and now the 



210 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

people are finding a source of livelihood and profit in pro- 
ducts which were disdained and considered trivial by the 
former planters. A few years ago a fine type of the old- 
time Cape Cod skippers, Captain Baker, saw the possibili- 
ties of the island in the fruit line. He established what 
is now the Boston Fruit Company, capitalized at several 
millions of dollars, which has stimulated and encouraged 
the planting of banana- and orange-trees all over the island. 
At every little port the stations of this company are 
located, and steamers run almost daily in the fruit season, 
conveying the product to the United States. This has 
brought to the island a welcome addition of money, which, 
distributed both to the small producer and the hordes of 
laborers required in handling the fruit, has proved bene- 
ficial to all classes. 

Up to the time of the great frost in Florida, in the 
winter of 1895-96, the Jamaicans never dreamed of the 
possibility of remuneration from orange-culture. Scat- 
tered over the island were thousands of orange-trees, some 
planted for ornament.or private use, others the result of acci- 
dental propagation. Owing to the destruction of the Flor- 
ida fruit during the year mentioned, American merchants 
undertook to gather Jamaica oranges, and some two hun- 
dred and fifty thousand barrels were shipped, much to the 
profit and delight of the Jamaicans, who immediately^ availed 
themselves of Captain Baker's offer to have the old trees 
grafted, at his expense, with stocks of the superior Florida 
fruit. The wild, or Seville, orange grows everywhere 
throughout the island, but the marmalade on every table 
is made in Scotland from Sicilian oranges and possibly 
Jamaica sugar. 

The grape-fruit and shaddock members of the orange 
tribe attain great perfection here. Lemons and limes are 
little cultivated. Grapes, pineapples, new potatoes, toma- 
toes, and other fresh vegetables for use in America are 
receiving some attention on the island, and a valuable 
trade in these commodities is being created. Attempts 



JAMAICA 211 

are also being made to establish, a fruit-trade between 
Jamaica and England by means of ships fitted with refri- 
gerator chambers, and capable of performing the voyage 
within fourteen or sixteen days. There is little doubt that 
before long Jamaica fruit will be regularly shipped to that 
country. 

No Jamaican of the old school ever thought of planting 
tobacco. In 1886, at the end of the great revolution, a 
family of Cuban exiles came to the island and began the 
cultivation of tobacco and the manufacture of cigars. 
Now small colonies of Cubans can be found at many places 
throughout the island, growing this crop, and Jamaican 
cigars, manufactured in Kingston, are smoked from Colon 
to Barbados, and have practically supplanted the Havana 
article in the West Indian markets. Tobacco for local 
consumption is twisted into long ropes and sold by the 
yard. 

Jamaica coffee is of three well-marked qualities. The 
sort that obtains the highest price is grown on the south- 
ern slopes of the Blue Mountains, at elevations of from 
three to five thousand feet. The quantity produced 
is small, probably not one third of the whole, but the 
prices obtained are high, ranging from twenty-five to 
forty dollars per hundredweight. This is the famous Blue 
Mountain coffee, every grain of which is carefully gathered 
and shipped to England, where it is said to possess pecu- 
liar qualities for blending. None of it is consumed upon 
the island. While stopping at one of the largest estates 
overnight, we observed that no coffee was served either 
for supper or for breakfast, the overseer informing us that, 
although he had been there for many years, he had never 
been permitted to use a single berry for his own consump- 
tion. The coffee-estates are most economically managed. 
In looking over the books, which are kept with great 
accuracy, I found that every expenditure, however trivial, 
was most carefully planned for, even down to including 
twopence a week to feed the watch-dog. The Blue Moun- 



212 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

tain estates are situated on such steep slopes that one 
naturally wonders how the field-hands maintain a vertical 
position while cultivating them. From the sea these plan- 
tations appear far above as small patches of brown in the 
general mantle of green vegetation. 

The next grade of coffee is grown in the hills of the 
plateau region of Manchester and St. Ann's, at elevations 
of from fifteen to twenty-five hundred feet. This obtains 
only half the price of the Blue Mountain variety. 

Large quantities of coffee are also grown in small patches 
by the negroes. This is badly cured and sold to local 
merchants, or retailed by the gill and pint in the little 
markets. This coffee of the common people brings only 
one fourth the price of the best quality. 

It has been shown that if the settlers were provided 
with a central factory, worked by people who thoroughly 
understood the curing of coffee, the value would be in- 
creased at least twenty per cent. It is estimated that bad 
methods of culture and defective curing result in an 
annual loss to the island of nearly a million dollars. The 
berry was formerly cultivated much more extensively 
than now, and there were three times as much of it 
shipped in 1814 as in 1895 and 1896. There are many 
abandoned estates in the Blue Mountains, which could be 
made productive by judicious cultivation and manuring. 
Some of these, latterly bought by settlers, have been 
brought into an excellent state of cultivation. There is 
evidently a promising field for development in this direc- 
tion, both in the Blue Mountains and in the coffee districts 
of the west. 

Liberian coffee is being largely introduced into Jamaica, 
owing to the fact that it will grow in sheltered localities 
with a moist climate, at a lower altitude than the other vari- 
eties, and even on some of the old abandoned sugar-estates. 
It is more hardy and consequently less subject to disease 
than Arabian coffee, and can be cultivated in connection 
with the shade of the bananas, now so extensively planted. 



JAMAICA 213 

Cocoa cultivation was introduced into Jamaica by the 
Spaniards, but subsequently dropped by the English. 
Under the fostering administration of the botanical de- 
partment, it has been latterly encouraged again, and 
thousands of acres formerly devoted to sugar may be 
utilized by this remunerative plant. Common allspice, 
which occurs in commerce as small dry berries resembling 
black pepper, grows upon the pimento-tree, which is 
indigenous to the island. The cultivation of this is of 
the simplest character. The trees are established from 
seeds distributed by birds, and require only to be thinned 
and kept free from undergrowth. The crop is irregular in 
quantity, and the price of late years has been exceptionally 
low, although Jamaica is the only country that produces 
this article. In the shade of the pimento-trees cattle are 
raised on a rich grass called the pimento-grass, that thrives 
on dry limestone soil. Allspice may therefore be regarded 
as only a by-product on lands usually devoted to stock- 
raising. 

Gringer is another industry that is especially associated 
with Jamaica. This can be grown in almost every part 
of the tropics, but that of the rich soils in the mountains 
of Jamaica usually brings the highest prices. The culti- 
vation is an exhaustive one, and land that has borne a 
few ginger-crops has hitherto been abandoned as useless. 
Efforts are now being made to restore fertility to these 
lands by the use of suitable manures. 

It is needless to review all the other small agricultural 
industries now existing or capable of being called into 
existence in Jamaica. The exports of annatto, which 
every American sees at least three times a day in the 
golden yellow of the butter upon his table, lime-juice, dye- 
woods, bitter woods, lancewood bars, satinwood, ebony, 
coco-wood, lignum-vitse, walking-sticks (from thinnings 
of the pimento-trees), divi-divi, tamarinds, sarsaparilla, 
and nutmegs are all more or less prominent. There are 
also medicinal plants ; essential oils ; other spices besides 



214 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

the allspice, such as cardamoms, nutmeg, black pepper, 
cinnamon, and vanilla, besides Sisal hemp, cassava, Chile 
peppers, castor-oil, and cinchona barks. All of these 
already exist in the island ; and are only waiting for favor- 
able circumstances to be developed into important indus- 
tries. They could be greatly increased at any time if 
special attention were devoted to them. 

Not the least important feature of the Jamaican agri- 
culture is the government instruction and experimenta- 
tion. Grants of money are given to elementary schools 
for the teaching of agriculture as a special subject. In 
addition, all country schools are expected to teach the 
elementary principles as a part of the general course. 
Special courses in agriculture are given to the students 
of the normal schools, and practical demonstrations and 
lectures are regularly delivered in certain districts by 
the officers of the botanical department, which also issues 
a monthly bulletin dealing with agricultural and horticul- 
tural interests. Further, an industrial school is attached 
to the Hope Gardens, where the boys receive practical in- 
struction from the superintendent. Apprentices brought 
here from the west coast of Africa for training are now 
engaged in agricultural work in their own country. 

The Eoyal Jamaica Society of Agriculture was estab- 
lished in 1885, and, according to the " Jamaican Handbook," 
it is entitled to be classed among the most useful and 
valuable institutions of the island. The Jamaica Agricul- 
tural Society, a more recent creation, publishes an excellent 
monthly journal. There are besides sugar-plantation 
associations, pen-keepers' associations, and local agricul- 
tural societies. 

All in all, agriculture in Jamaica is in a far more healthy 
condition than in the other islands. The blacks no longer 
depend upon imported rations of rice and codfish, with 
which the former masters fed them, but nearly all have 
little homes surrounded by fields of ground provisions,— 
yams, sweet potatoes, bananas, and corn, — which, together 



JAMAICA 215 

with a few pigs and chickens, furnish an ample livelihood. 
The agricultural prosperity of Jamaica is handicapped, 
however, by the fact that the export products are so 
largely taxed by the protective duties of the United States, 
which is the nearest and most natural market. 

The imports in 1895-96 were valued at $13,722,500, and 
the exports at $8,900,000. Great Britain supplies about 48.1 
per cent, of the imports ; Canada and other British posses- 
sions, 7.5 per cent. ; the United States, 41.8 per cent. ; and 
other countries, 2.6 per cent. Of the exports the United 
Kingdom consumes 27.6 per cent., and the United States 
57 per cent. It will thus be noticed that the trade with 
the United States is of greater bulk and importance than 
that with Great Britain; indeed, more, perhaps, than is 
represented by the figures, for while the United States 
offers a better market for sugar and takes nearly the 
whole of the fruit, the colony is dependent upon this 
country for a large portion of its staple food-supplies. 

The principal items of island export are sugar, $928,625 ; 
rum, $872,850 ; and coffee, $1,720,000 ; fruit exported to the 
United States, $2,421,116 ; minor items, including ginger, 
$2,500,000. For a country with such a large population 
and so full of agricultural resources as Jamaica, the small 
export value seems remarkable. Among the smaller ex- 
ports were included tobacco, cigars, and horses, but no 
cattle. Sugar is a decreasing industry on the island, and 
coffee-culture does not appear to be extending. Fruit 
exportation has made great strides in recent years and is 
likely to grow in value. 

Notwithstanding its natural beauty, fertility, and su- 
perior governmental organization, Jamaica is suffering 
from financial depression. There are several causes for 
this condition. The first of these is the fact that notwith- 
standing the loyalty of the people to the institutions and 
government, which tie them to England, their trade and 
commercial interests are with the United States, which 
country, through its tariff laws, renders it impossible for 



216 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

the producers to obtain the prices which would prevail if 
the island had free trade .with this country. Absentee 
landlordism is also a great curse to the island. Most of 
the land titles are held in England, and largely by men 
and families of fortune, who care little for these estates, 
since they have ceased to return the immense revenues 
formerly attainable under the plantation system. The 
conservatism of the English people also stands seriously 
in the way of Jamaican advancement. The Englishman 
adheres to the dress and customs of his Northern isle in 
this tropical clime, and cares little for the ever-increasing 
inventions which make competitive industry possible. 
The last time I was in Kingston an American ice-wagon 
arrived on a steamer. The daily papers, in noting this in- 
novation, — the inhabitants having been before dependent 
upon depots for this commodity, — remarked in a spirit of 
despair that " thus our island is rapidly becoming Yan- 
keeized." . 

Notwithstanding the intense loyalty to the crown of 
every Jamaican, from the humblest negro to the highest 
official, there is a general feeling on the part of the people 
in favor of annexation to our country. Froude found in 
the island the same longing for admission to the Ameri- 
can Union which he had left behind him in the Lesser 
Antilles. " If the West Indies were ever to become pros- 
perous, it could only be when they were annexed to the 
United States." In meeting with this subdued but inef- 
faceable sentiment throughout the loyal British islands, it 
occurred to me that these people were indulging in a vain 
hope, at least for the present ; for I have never heard the 
least expression on the part of Americans of a desire to 
take from England the responsibility of controlling her 
West Indian islands, although it would be but wisdom to 
break down the commercial barriers which now weigh so 
heavily upon the inhabitants. 

Jamaica has one hundred and eighty-five miles of excel- 
lent railways, extending from Kingston northwest to Mon- 













■ ■ ■ » 






1fc¥''^^^'*-^v,:^f ^^ 




iXfwUk 


1 W^"""%^ '''^i«|^° 


^^^m^M AttiiiniBniy^l 





A CEIBA OR SILK-COTTON TEEE 




CACTUS AND CHAPAEEAL, JAMAICA 



JAMAICA 217 

tego Bay and northeast to Port Antonio, across the island. 
These are well managed and comfortably equipped. Some 
of the scenery along the roads is magnificent. Eailway 
construction is difficult and expensive. Seventy thousand 
acres of the crown lands were conveyed to the West India 
Improvement Company for its part in constructing the 
railways. There are also six hundred and eighty-five 
miles of telegraph line, operated by the postal system, 
with convenient offices everywhere throughout the island. 

The glory of Jamaica, however, is its public highways. 
There are thirty-six hundred miles of fine roads, — roads 
such as no country district in the United States pos- 
sesses,— which are built to grade, splendidly macadam- 
ized, well drained and cared for. These make communi- 
cation easy, and every portion of the island accessible. 
Not only are the roads of the highest type, but good 
bridges everywhere abound. Some of these are so excel- 
lent that when the railways were constructed they were 
occupied by them without further strengthening. Strange 
to say, these roads are more used by pedestrians than by 
vehicles. The negro inhabitants think nothing of walking 
from twenty to forty miles a day, and, when footing is so 
good, many of them prefer it to the more expensive rail- 
way system. The island is indebted for this superior 
system of railways and public roads to Sir Henry Blake, 
for many years governor, who has recently been promoted 
to Hong-Kong. He devoted every energy to perfecting 
the means of transportation, and was justly proud of his 
department of public works. 

The island has a good system of coastal and foreign 
communication. A comfortable steamer leaves Kingston 
every week and circumnavigates the island, touching at 
every little port, not only affording the benefits of trans- 
portation to the inhabitants, but presenting to the tourist 
the opportunity for a most charming journey. Excellent 
lines of steamers ply between the island and the United 
States, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia, the Lesser 



218 CUBA AND POKTO RICO 

Antilles, and England. The principal line is the English 
Royal Mail Company, which maintains a comfortable 
service between England and the Caribbean ports, ex- 
cepting those belonging to Spain, which are avoided on 
account of sanitation. These steamers are patronized 
largely by English tourists who come out to see the 
colonies. The arrival of the semimonthly packet from Eng- 
land, bringing mail, parcels, English mutton, butter, and a 
thousand and one necessaries, which every Englishman 
in Jamaica awaits from home, is the most important event 
upon the island. The principal service to the United 
States is maintained by the Atlas Line from New York and 
the Boston Fruit Company's steamers from Boston, New 
York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. 



CHAPTER XXII 

JAMAICA (Continued) 

Cities and villages. Kingston. Spanish Town. Port Antonio. Montego 
Bay. Rural life. The people. Excess of the black population. Color- 
line and distinctions. Dress and habits of the blacks. Folk-lore of the 
negroes. A peculiar alphabet. Dependencies of Jamaica. 

THE better classes of Jamaicans do not dwell in cities, 
which are few in number and the least attractive 
features of the island. There are numerous small towns 
and villages, local centers of trade. 

' Kingston, the colonial and commercial capital and only 
city of importance, is a most unattractive place, situated 
on the south side, a little east of the middle of the island, 
on a low, arid plain surrounded by mountains. It faces an 
extensive harbor inclosed by a narrow spit of sand, some 
four miles in length, called the Palisades, which projects 
from the land like a crooked finger. Travelers landing at 
Kingston are often so impressed by its unpleasant aspects 
that they leave the island with no knowledge of the beau- 
tiful interior, and afterward decry a land of which they 
have really seen nothing. 

The city has a population of 46,542. It is a hot and 
unpleasant town, in which the traveler does not care to 
linger longer than necessary for the transaction of busi- 
ness. It has good and well-lighted streets and an excellent 
water-supply and system of sewerage. The principal mer- 

219 



220 CUBA AND POETO RICO 

cliants, officials, and well-to-do people in general, reside 
in handsome English lodges and villas on the higher 
ground in the suburbs. It has a good street-railway 
system and many large mercantile houses and shops. The 
sidewalks are miserable, and seem to be constructed with 
an especial object to prevent walking. There are generally 
brick pathways in front of the houses, but these are broken 
from one another by steps, or terminate abruptly without 
steps, so that they cannot well be used ; in fact, the well- 
dressed white man who ventures to walk upon the streets 
of Jamaica is looked down upon as an inferior being by the 
colored population. Numerous victorias and importunate 
cabmen are everywhere to be found, although one some- 
times finds it inconvenient to pay a pound sterling for an 
afternoon's shopping in a limited district which elsewhere 
could be easily traversed afoot. 

The architecture of Kingston is peculiar. The houses 
are of yellowish brick, the prevalent color of the dusty 
roads, with high steps leading to a jalosied^ second story. 
As Trollope has remarked, one is struck by the ugliness 
of the buildings, especially those which partake in any 
degree of a public character. It is singular that any man 
who could put bricks, stone, and timber together should 
construct the peculiar forms which are to be seen here. 

The public institutions are many and excellently con- 
ducted, including schools, churches, museum, library, 
almshouse, asylum, penitentiary, colonial offices, etc. 
There is also a handsome market named after Queen 
Victoria. In the central part of the city is a park with 
several statues of local celebrities, including one to Dr. 
Bowerbank, a distinguished physician and sanitary re- 
former. There is no theater in Kingston worthy of the 
name. 

The suburbs lying to the north of the city are delightful. 
As one drives in that direction up the sloping plain, which 

1 Jalosies are Venetian blinds with large slats, used in tropical countries 
to screen interiors, without excluding the air. 







COUNTRY HOUSE, RETREAT PEN, CLARENDON 




KINGSTON STREET SCENE 

JAMAICA 



JAMAICA 221 

rises within a few miles to a thousand feet above the sea, 
he passes many beautiful English homes, each surrounded 
with its garden, in which flaming poinsettias, oleanders, 
and hibiscus-trees are the most conspicuous objects. A 
large area, known as the Up-town Camp, is the military 
garrison, with its parade-grounds, race-track, golf-links, 
and handsome quarters for the officers and soldiers. The 
troops are principally of the West Indian regiment, composed 
of tall blacks arrayed in handsome Zouave uniforms, con- 
sisting of red turbans, white jackets, blue trousers, and 
white leggings. Their picturesque figures, seen strolling 
along the streets, are very pleasing, and the regimental 
band furnishes good music. Four miles north of the city 
are the extensive grounds of the governor's residence, or 
King's House. This consists of elaborate buildings, con- 
structed for comfort in the tropical clime, rather than with 
a view to architectural ornateness, and surrounded by 
lovely gardens. Here the governor and his wife extend 
a courteous hospitality to the residents of the island and 
the passing stranger. Still beyond are handsome public 
gardens and the large Constant Spring Hotel, at the foot 
of the mountain, from which the city is easily reached. 

At the end of the spit inclosing the harbor, four miles 
southwest of the city, is the naval station of Port Eoyal, 
the headquarters of her Majesty's naval forces in the 
West Indies, and perhaps, with the exception of St. Lucia, 
the most important British stronghold in the Caribbean 
Sea. Old Port Royal, once the most flourishing English 
city of the New World, stood at the extremity of the 
Palisades, near the present naval station. In 1693 it 
was destroyed by a terrible earthquake, the city sliding 
bodily into the ocean. The disaster was one of the most 
appalling of all recorded catastrophes of nature. In 
entering Kingston harbor the traveler is told that beneath 
the waters the spires and roofs of the ancient houses can 
still be seen. Kingston came into prominence as a com- 
mercial center after this catastrophe. 



222 CUBA AND POETO RICO 

Fifteen miles west of Kingston is the interesting old 
Spanish Town (population five thousand), which until 
late years was the political capital of the island. Its 
original name was Santiago de la Vega, and it was settled 
by Diego Columbus in 1525. The administrative buildings 
of the colony, rather imposing structures, including an 
ornate arcade with a statue of Admiral Rodney, are situ- 
ated here, but are now unused. The town has an air of 
peace and quiet. Although the seat of a large population, 
there is no evidence of business activity, and the most 
interesting feature of the city is the old church and church- 
yard, where the inscriptions of the tombs recall lives and 
events in the past history of Jamaica. Among these is 
one which cannot but touch the hearts of Americans. It 
is a marble slab at the right of the south door, near the 
middle of the churchyard, and bears the following inscrip- 
tion : 

MEMORY OF 

GEORGE WASHINGTON REED, 

Master Commandant in the Navy of the 

United States. 

Born at PMladelpMa, May 26th, 1780. 

Captured in the U. S. Brig of War Vixen, 

Under his command, 

By H. B. M. Frigate Soutliampton; 

He died a Prisoner of War at this place, 

January 4th, 1813. 

Unwilling to forsake his companions in Captivity, 

He declined a proffered parole, and sunk under a 

tropical Fever. 

THIS STONE 

Is inscribed by the hand of affection 

as a memorial of his virtues, 

and records the gratitude of his friends 

For the kind offices which 

in the season of sickness and hour of 

Death He received at the hands of 

A generous Foe. 



JAMAICA 223 

An excellent hotel, one of the best on the island, is found 
in Spanish Town, where one may enjoy rest and enter- 
tainment in the quiet English way. 

Port Antonio, on the northeast side, is the second com- 
mercial city in Jamaica. This is a queer old place, which 
had no importance until within the past two decades, 
when it was made the center of the fruit-shipping indus- 
try. It has two safe harbors, the western one capable of 
allowing large vessels to lie alongside the wharves. It is 
now visited regularly two or three times a week by fruit- 
steamers from Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New 
York. Most of the bananas consumed in our Northern 
markets are shipped from here. A line of railway con- 
nects Port Antonio with Kingston. Many beautiful drives 
diverge from the city, one leading southward across the 
Cuna-Cuna Pass to Bath, to the opposite side of the island. 

On the northwest coast the principal town is Montego 
Bay, situated on a beautiful and picturesque inlet, but, like 
most of the Jamaican towns, a place of little interest or 
importance, although the scene of many business transac- 
tions. It is connected by rail with Kingston, one hundred 
and twenty-five miles distant. 

There are many other small and picturesque towns 
along the north coast, such as Lucea, Falmouth, St. Ann's 
Bay, Port Maria, and Buff Bay ; and on the south coast 
are Port Morant, Morant Bay, Black Eiver, and Savana- 
la-Mar. 

Most of the other villages of Jamaica are merely market- 
places where the gregarious blacks congregate on certain 
days to sell their yams and fruits and make their humble 
purchases from the few shops, usually kept by some coal- 
black Levi or leather-colored Isaacson. Hebrew names 
appear upon all the signs of the roadside shops in Jamaica, 
and one cannot avoid a shock after inquiring for the 
proprietor, whom one naturally expects to be of the type 
with which we are familiar in Chatham Street, to find him 
a son of Timbuctoo. 



224 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

The best view of Jamaican life is obtained by driving 
through the country. Comfortable two-horse barouches 
can be hired for a pound a day in Kingston, and a cour- 
teous negro serves as guide and driver. Travel on the 
beautiful highways is a pleasure. The roads have a 
perfect surface; the gutters are well trimmed; neatly 
painted posts mark each quarter-mile ; the grades, care- 
fully surveyed, are such that the lofty heights are climbed 
without serious effort on the part of the horses ; and every 
mile traversed presents some beautiful and pleasing picture 
to the eye. Sometimes these roads follow the side of 
picturesque streams like the Bog Walk and Wag Water; 
again, they rise over the high central divides, presenting 
remarkable panoramas of landscape, sometimes wild and 
rugged, again broken by beautiful pastoral and agricultural 
scenes. If one prefers, he can drive entirely around the 
island along the sea-shore, everywhere in sight of the sea, 
here presenting a great variety of color, — pearl-green above 
the growing reef, or deepest blue where some oceanic abyss 
closely borders the shore, — and always accompanied by a 
beautiful breaking surf dashing against the rock or djdng 
upon beaches of snow-white sand. Miles of cocoa-palms 
shade the road, while on the land side one meets constant 
surprises as he passes around some headland. Here a 
great sugar-plantation borders the road, with its quaint 
old buildings and immense overshot water-wheels ; around 
the next headland is a picturesque "sdllage with its parish 
church and market-place; or the road for miles follows 
overhanging bluffs veiled with exquisite vegetation. Not 
the least charming features of such a drive are the people 
whom one passes. Everywhere the erect figures of the 
negro women can be seen walking ahead so rapidly that our 
trotting horses hardly overtake them, each carrying upon 
her head some burden — a basket, tra}", bundle, or vessel, a 
prayer-book, a handkerchief, or, if naught else, a round 
stone to hold down her hat. 

The Jamaican woman thinks nothing of walking twenty 




NEGRESSES TRANSPORTING CHARCOAL 




LOGWOOD COLLECTED FOR SHIPMENT 
JAMAICA 



JAMAICA 225 

miles to market and back to sell a bunch of plantains or a 
few pounds of yams valued at less than a shilling. When 
they meet they never fail to exchange courteous greetings. 
Occasionally one meets the planters and pen-keepers of the 
better classes, or some country curate arrayed in the solemn 
black of his English prototype, as unsuitable for the tropics 
as can be imagined, yet conventionally adhered to. 

" Lodging-houses," as the small inns are called, are found 
at convenient distances, and sometimes excellent English 
hotels, the best of which are in the country, remote from 
any village, where one is so well treated that he feels in- 
clined to linger for many days. The best of these rural 
places in Jamaica is the house at Montpelier. This is 
erected upon a hill in the center of the Shettlewood estate, 
of ten thousand acres. From its generous verandas, extend- 
ing completely around the house, the most beautiful land- 
scapes of forest-covered hill and vale, crossed here and 
there by white highways, and broken by large and shady 
pastures upon which graze beautiful herds of blooded 
Hindu cattle, can be seen in all directions. 

Another restful spot is the Moneague hotel, reached by 
a few hours' drive from Spanish Town. Here the governor 
and his family and the better class of tourists seek pleasant 
quiet. 

Kear the eastern end are the warm springs of Bath, near 
which there is another good hotel. Mandeville, in the 
west, has also a high reputation for the excellence of its 
entertainment and beauty of its surroundings, and no 
Englishman visits the island without stopping there. 
Kingsley, Froude, and Trollope have exploited its delights 
and restfulness. The charm of these places is indescriba- 
ble. Unlike our bustling American tourist hotels, they 
make no attempt at elegance of furnishings, and each guest 
is permitted to enjoy himself as he pleases. 

Jamaica is thickly settled, yet it could support many 
more people. According to the census of 1891, the popu- 
lation was 639,491, but by the law of natural increase it 



226 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

probably now amounts to 717,016 people, or 173 per square 
mile. In area and density of population the island closely 
resembles Connecticut. According to the census of 1891, 
the blacks numbered 488,624, the colored 121,955. To- 
gether these classes number 610,579, or five sixths of the 
total population. The whites are next in proportion, num- 
bering 14,692, while there are 10,116 East Indian coolies. 
Besides these there were 481 Chinamen, and 3623 people 
whose race was not stated. There were nearly 28,000 more 
females than males, and 292,288 people, or one half the 
population, were illiterate— not such a bad showing for a 
black man's country when we think that two thirds of the 
white population of Porto Rico are equally ignorant. The 
population of Jamaica is increasing very rapidly by births. 
From 1861 to 1871 the increase was 64,890 ; from 1871 to 
1881, 74,680. The bu-th-rate in 1892-93 was 37.3 per cent. ; 
the death-rate 20.9 per cent. 

The black population outnumbers the white in the pro- 
portion of nearly forty to one, but the government control 
is in the hands of the whites. No more refined people 
can anywhere be found than the colonial army and naval 
officials who compose the higher class of Kingston society, 
while throughout the island there are many estimable 
planters, pen-keepers, and clergymen, who in this distant 
colony bravely keep up the customs, traditions, and habits 
of the mother-country. These form but a fractional por- 
tion of the Jamaican population. The mass of the people 
are black or colored, and there are few old families on the 
island which do not show traces of African blood. During 
the days when the large plantations were prosperous, 
miscegenation prevailed to an alarming degree, and al- 
though not common now, its effects are seen on every 
side. Prior to this, however, the Jews, who constituted 
the mercantile class of the island, had mingled freely with 
the black race, and before them the Spanish blood had 
made a contribution of mestizos. As a result of this 
peculiar combination, there are many grades and qualities 



JAMAICA 227 

of colored people on the island, the best of which is that 
of the English mixture. So long ago was the African 
strain ingrafted that in many instances its possessors are 
often indistinguishable from the white ; but there is always 
some meddlesome fellow who will call attention to it even 
when it is not evident to the eye. Trollope has well de- 
scribed this habit of the Jamaicans of pointing out the 
blood-taint. 

The other mixtures of Jew and negro, and Spanish and 
negro, and these two classes mixed with each other, do not 
result in as handsome a race as either the Cuban or French 
island mulattos. The product is a scrawny race, of un- 
pleasant features. Nearly all the tradespeople of Jamaica 
are of this class, possessing the shrewdness of the Jew, *the 
groveling traits of the slave, and the servility of the Lon- 
don shopkeeper ; they grate upon the American nerves most 
unpleasantly. Of the better class of colored people many 
are highly educated and intelligent, including in their 
ranks professional men and merchants who would do 
credit to any country. 

But the unadulterated black— the coal-black, the " nig- 
ger '" par excellence of Trollope, Dickens, and Thackeray, 
an amusing and interesting type— is in a vast majority 
here. The Jamaican negroes are sui generis ; nothing like 
them, even of their own race, can elsewhere be found — not 
even elsewhere in the West Indies. They are omnipresent. 
The towns, the country highways, and the woods ring with 
their laughter and merry songs ; they fill the churches and 
throng the highways, especially on market-days, when the 
country roads are black with them; and they are witty 
and full of queer stories and folk-lore, some of which 
we give below. Although the Englishman will tell you 
that they are poor laborers, they do the menial work of 
the island, and altogether are cheerful and respectful, hav- 
ing at least a great regard for good manners and appear- 
ance. Their wants are few, and most of them are content 
with a small hut surrounded by a provision-ground, where 



228 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

they can grow yams, cocoaniits, bananas, and sugar-cane, 
to suppiy their meager diet, a kind, by tlie way, entirely too 
Kght to support hard labor. An American contractor who 
was recently engaged in building the Port Antonio railway 
informed me that the Jamaican was very unsatisfactory as 
a laborer, even at the small cost of a shilling per day. He 
had imported from Alabama a few Southern negroes, each 
of whom seemed capable of doing ten times as much labor 
as the Jamaican. He wondered at this difference in the 
endurance of the two kinds of people of the same race, 
until he observed that a Jamaican who secured American 
food while Avorking about the commissary tent increased 
in strength each day until his possibilities equaled those 
of 'the American blacks. It is remarkable how little food 
of a substantial character they consume, and how irregular 
the}^ are in their hours of eating. Nevertheless, Jamaican 
negroes are sought far and wide throughout the tropics as 
laborers, and thousands of them have gone to work upon the 
Panama Canal, the railways of Costa Rica and Guatemala, 
and the banana-plantations of Honduras and Nicaragua. 

The women of Jamaica, however, perform the hard 
labor. They do the household work, cultivate the fields, 
carry the hod of brick and mortar, coal the ships, load the 
bananas, break stone for the highways, cultivate the fields, 
and carry the products to market upon their heads, arrayed 
in a single garment of calico, and without shoes or hats. 
The men who work at all are the overseers, mechanics, and 
drivers of teams. On Sunday the women array themselves 
in neatly laundered dresses, put on their shoes and stock- 
ings, and in exceptional cases hats or bonnets, and attend 
the parish churches. They are honest, polite, and indus- 
trious, but have little regard for the marriage tie. Forty 
per cent, of the births are illegitimate ; yet no one would 
wish to see the toilsome life of one of these women still 
further burdened by having to support a worthless hus- 
band, who would have authority over the children whom 
she can now claim as her own. 



JAMAICA 229 

These people, notwithstanding their imitation of their 
Enghsh masters in dress, habits, and rehgion, are still sav- 
ages in their minds and cnlture, though not savage in the 
sense of cruel or vindictive, for the negro has traits of char- 
acter entii'ely different from those which we ordinarily 
attribute to savages, judged by the standard of the tradi- 
tional American red man. Notwithstanding the outward 
semblance of the Christian religion, they only assume its 
more conspicuous phases. They find in church attendance 
a satisfaction of their gregarious tendencies, and in religious 
rites, especially those of the evangelical denominations, 
an opportunity to sing and shout and sway in rhythmic 
motion, just as their ancestors did in the voodoo cere- 
monies of the African forests. The ethical, moral, and 
spiritual teachings of the earnest preachers pass through 
their simple minds like water through a sieve; only the 
ceremonial and emotional phases impress them ; an empty 
bottle,— a potent power of evil,— if set down at the door of 
a congregation, would send it into paroxysms of fear. On 
the road to and from the church, the rustling of the wind 
through a ceiba-tree, which in their humble minds is the 
dwelling-place of jumbies,^ will offset all the sermons of the 
day. 

Even educated young women in the normal school 
recently fainted from fear at sight of some trembling 
mercury which had been spilled upon the floor during an 
experiment. Obiism was more potent than science. It 
is believed that the " goat without horns " is still sacrificed 
by these people ; and when a child is lost in Kingston, black 
hearts pale with the terrible thought that the obi- doctor 
has appropriated him for this purpose. In the mountains 
and valleys they still meet, led by some hideous obi-man, 
to sacrifice the rumpled cock or human child, or sway and 
dance until they fall in trances. Civilization should, in- 
deed, be thankful that the strong arm of England keeps 
these savage instincts in subjection, and that its more 

i Jumby, a synonym of duppy — the "harnt" (haunt) of our Southern negro. 



230 CUBA AND POETO RICO 

merciful and humane methods have prevented the repeti- 
tion in Jamaica of Haitian degradation. 

In the mountains of the interior, the cockpit country on 
the west, and Portland Parish on the east, there dwell still 
other negroes, who have special privileges and are partially 
free from English rule. These are the maroons {ci- 
marrones of the Spaniards), descendants of Africans who 
would not endure the fetters of slavery, and soon after 
landing broke away from bondage to these inaccessible re- 
treats. They have certain vested rights which the other 
negroes do not possess, and during the past centuries they 
were feared by l^oth whites and blacks; but England has 
at last reduced them to a condition where, while retaining 
their liberties, they no longer plunder the planter. They 
maintain the African tribal organization and have their 
chiefs and head men, but, otherwise than that they do not 
serve the white man, no difference can be seen between 
them and the other negroes of the island. An American 
who had heard much of these wild maroons resolved upon 
visiting their village for the purpose of feasting his eyes on 
a real African prince. After a tedious journey he reached 
the collection of huts and inquired for the head man. A 
venerable but ordinary-looking darky finally appeared, 
dressed in the same manner and speaking the same lan- 
guage as the other blacks of the island. Our Boston friend, 
after enjoying the presence of royalty to satiety, started to 
leave the village, when he was greeted with the customary 
parting : " Buckra, I t'ank you for a shilling, sah." 

The character of the black man of Jamaica has been 
beautifully described by Trollope in his book on " The West 
Indies and the Spanish Main," and the reader who wishes 
to know more concerning his simple nature should read 
his description. The following story told by him excel- 
lently illustrates their childUke nature. 

Some of their efforts after dignity of costume are ineffably lu- 
dicrous. One Sunday evening, far away in the countrj^, as I was 
riding with a gentleman, the proprietor of the estate around us, I 



JAMAICA 231 

saw a young girl walking home from churcli. She was arrayed 
from head to foot in virgin white. Her gloves were on, and her 
parasol was up. Her hat also was white, and so was the lace, and 
so were the bugles which adorned it. She walked with a stately 
dignity that was worthy of such a costume, and worthy also of 
higher grandeur; for behind her walked an attendant nymph, 
carrying the beauty's prayer-book — on her head. A negro woman 
carries every burden on her head, from a tub of water weighing a 
hundredweight down to a bottle of physic. 

When we came up to her, she turned toward us and curtsied. 
She curtsied, for She recognized her ''massa"; but she curtsied 
with great dignity, for she recognized also her own finery. The 
girl behind with the prayer-book made the ordinary obeisance, 
crooking her leg up at the knee, and then standing upright quicker 
than thought. 

"Who on earth is that princess?" said I. 

" They are two sisters who both work at my mill," said my friend. 
^* Next Sunday they will change places. Polly will have the parasol 
and the hat, and Jenny will carry the prayer-book on her head be- 
hind her." 

His story of how the barefooted field-hand came into a 
shoe-shop to buy a pair of pumps, and how he imperiously 
demanded a piece of carpet such as dealers ordinarily have 
to keep their customers' stockings clean, is equally amus- 
ing. 

Not the least striking feature of the Jamaican negroes 
is their talkativeness. The buckra man they treat with 
outward diffidence, but wlien they meet they open a rapid 
fire of badinage with one another, accompanied by many 
exclamations and loud laughter. The noise of this jabber- 
ing at the market-places — sometimes elaborate affairs in 
the towns, and sometimes merely fenced-in inclosures at 
the cross-roads— can be heard rising above all other sounds 
long before the locality is reached. 

And what interesting spots these markets are, where 
dames and damsels from miles around have each brought 
a head-load of produce to sell — yams, potatoes, peasant 
coffee, sapodillas, oranges, sweet potatoes, well-browned 
cakes of cassava bread, plantains, peppers, and other prod- 



232 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

ucts of their toil. They still barter in " gills " and " quat- 
ties "—old-time coins, fractions of farthings, no longer 
made, whose value indicates the extent of their dealings. 
The woman who does a business of two shillings a market- 
day feels well rewarded for her work, which has probably 
included twenty miles of walking to and fro. 

But the best traits of the darkies are seen around their 
houses, or in the domestics of the buckra's home. Often, 
as one passes the huts, the black mother may be seen comb- 
ing out the wool of her fatherless child^trying, trying, 
ever trjang to eliminate those African kinks, whose tem- 
porary straightening seems in her imagination to lift the 
little life a step nearer the ever-hoped-for but never-attain- 
able white man's caste. And as she lovingly performs this 
task, she tells weird stories which her ancestors brought 
from Africa, or teaches that most remarkable Jamaican 
alphabet — a rhyme which originated no one knows how, 
but which for two centuries has been handed down orally 
from mother to child, and which every Jamaican can 
repeat. It runs as follows : 



A is for Assinoo ;^ see how him stan' ! 

B is for Bucki-a,- bery bad man. 

C is for Pussy ; him name Maria. 

D is for Dupp3^ ;-^ him eye shine hke fire. 

E is for Eel ; him catch in de ferry. 

F is for Figgler ;•* him play sweet, bery. 

G is for Governor ; him hve at King's House. 

H is for Drj'-Harbor, place poor as church-mouse. 

I is for Miyself . When I sick, I go to bed. 

J is for John Crow ; he have a peel head. 

K is for Kalaloo,^ bery nice w'lien him boil. 

L is for Lizard, but him tail 'poll. 

M is for Monkey ; just look 'pon him face. 

N is for Naua;^ him cap trim wid lace. 

1 Ass, donkey. 2 White man. ^ Ghost. * Fiddler. 

5 A kind of bird. * Baby (a corrupted Spanish word). 



JAMAICA 233 

is for Oliphant ;^ liim have a big mouf. 

P is for Potto ;2 when night come he go out. 

Q is for Quattie ;^ I beg yon one, massa, please. 

R is for Ratta ; him tiptoe 'pon cheese. 

S is for Snake ; him crawl in de grass. 

T is for Toad, so farr'ard an' fast. 

U is for Uncle. Boy, yon tell him howdee ! 

V is for Vervine ;* make very good tea. 

W, X, Y. Hi ! I reaUy forget. 

Z is for Zebedee, mending his net. 

The men, if you can gain their confidence, will tell you 
queer stories of the donkey who would go hunting like the 
tiger, and how his courage failed ; or other tales of African 
folk-lore in which the rabbit, lion, tiger, and elephant, or 
other animals which they know only through inherited 
tradition, are always introduced. These are allied to the 
Uncle Remus stories which Joel Chandler Harris has made 
familiar to American readers, and which are told wherever 
the African race is distributed. 

The Jamaican negroes are also much given to proverbs, 
and they have one ready for every occasion. These prov- 
erbs are essentially the same as those told by all West 
Indian negroes, and no doubt represent in modified form 
the lore of their ancestral country. Some of them are 
pointed and amusing. 

Three groups of islands are attached to Jamaica for 
administrative purposes, although not related to it in 
natural afiinities. The largest of these are the Turks and 
Caicos Islands of the Bahama group, situated nearly five 
hundred miles to the northeast. Why they are politically 
controlled by Jamaica, and not by the Bahaman govern- 
ment, which surrounds them on all sides, is one of those 
inexplicable problems of the British colonial system which 
we cannot explain. They will be discussed with the 
Bahama group, to which they naturally belong. 

1 Elephant (this word is from the old Scotch settlers). 

2 Owl. • 3 A fourth of a farthing. * A plant. 



234 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

The second group comprises the three lonely coral 
islands known as the Caymans, situated off from the 
track of commerce in the Caribbean Sea, one hundred and 
eighty miles northwest of Jamaica. They are about the 
same distance due west of the Santiago coast of Cuba, to 
which they are allied by natural affinities, rising from the 
submerged ridge projecting westward as a continuation of 
the Sierra Maestra. The largest of these islands is Grand 
Cayman, seventeen miles in length and four miles in width. 
Its coast is bold and rock-bound ; the eastern and most of 
the northern shores are protected by coral reefs inclosing 
harbors of considerable size and depth, but with entrances 
so narrow and intricate that only small vessels can enter. 
One of these, the Great Sound, on the north, measures 
more than six miles across. The only anchorage for large 
vessels is under the west end. 

The island is well wooded, and produces dye woods, 
mahogany, cedar, and other timber. Palms grow abun- 
dantly, and are used by the natives for thatching their 
cottages, while the fiber is used for fishing-lines, hats, 
baskets, fans, and sieves. The products of the soil are 
similar to those of Jamaica, as are its wild animals and 
birds. There is good pasturage, principally guinea-grass ; 
and horses, cattle, pigs, and poultry are raised in sufficient 
numbers for the inhabitants. Phosphate deposits of con- 
siderable value have recently been found and shipped to the 
United States. Among the natural curiosities of Grand 
Cayman is a cave at Bodden Town, which extends some hun- 
dreds of yards under the sea. There is also a natural 
cistern forty to forty-two feet deep, containing clear, sweet 
spring-water. 

Grand Cayman was at one time the rendezvous of buc- 
aneers, and they erected fortifications mounted by heavy 
guns. The latter lie embedded in the sand at Gun Key. 

According to the census of 1891, the population amounted 
to 4322, of whom 2418 were females. The people are tem- 
perate, strong, tall, and healthy-looking, and most of them 



JAMAICA 235 

are white or colored. From the woods of the island they 
build themselves neat cottages and schooners. They live 
by fishing for turtles about the keys and banks, and by 
cultivating cocoanuts. There is very little money in the 
island, but there is no actual poverty, most of the people 
being able to supply all their humble needs. There are six 
hundred and thirty-three houses, collected in several little 
hamlets, including a church, a court-house, public of&ces, 
a school-house, and a prison. The climate is warm, but ex- 
ceedingly salubrious. Long remarked that "no part of 
the world is, perhaps, more healthful than this spot." There 
is no resident physician, and the only ailments are those of 
old age. 

Little Cayman is nine miles long and about a mile broad ; 
and the third island, Cayman Brae, is ten miles long and 
one mile in width. These islands lie about seventy miles 
northeast of the Grrand Cayman, and are separated by a 
channel seven miles wide. Little Cayman has only thirty- 
five people, belonging to two old families. The people lead 
a very lonely life, but are strong and healthy. Cayman 
Brae has no good anchorage, but is inhabited by people 
very much like those of the other islands. It has a popu- 
lation of five hundred and twenty-eight. 

The third Jamaican dependency consists of the Morant 
and Pedro Keys. The Morant Keys are situated about 
thirty-three miles southeast of Jamaica, and consist of three 
small uninhabited islands. In March and April the sea- 
birds arrive in great numbers and cover them with eggs, 
which are collected and conveyed in schooners to Jamaica. 
Turtles are also caught. The Pedro Keys are forty or fifty 
miles to the southwest of Jamaica, and consist of four 
islets. There are a few temporary huts, and some cocoa- 
nut-trees have been planted. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE ISLAND OF SANTO DOMINGO ^ 

Difficulties of nomenclature. Geographical features of the island. Irreg-- 
ularity of outline. Mountains and valleys. The Alps of the Antilles, 
Classification of the ranges. Rivers and lakes. Climate. Geology. 
Fauna. 

SANTO DOMINGO, although second in size, is perhaps 
the most impoverished and backward of the Great 
Antilles. Its area is about two thirds that of Cuba and 
more than three times that of Porto Rico and Jamaica 
combined. The island by nature is the geographic center 
of the Great Antilles. Situated midway between Porto 
Rico and Cuba in the island chain, it is the most central 
and highest of the system, from which the others in either 
direction may be considered as radiating peninsulas. It 
excels them all in altitude, diversity of configuration, pic- 

1 Both "Haiti" and "Santo Domingo" are used as general terms to desig- 
nate this island, occupied by the republics of "Haiti "and " San Domingo." 
It is not necessary to enter into an historic discussion concerning this nomen- 
clature, further than to say that we shall use the Spanish term "Santo 
Domingo " in speaking of the island as a whole, " San Domingo " for the 
republic of that name, and " Haiti " for the territory embraced within the 
Haitian republic. It is a matter of regi'et that the old name " Hispaniola " has 
become obsolete. 

In these pages I have also intentionally avoided terming the inhabitants of 
this island Dominicans, even though the San Domiugoans may in these later 
days so call themselves. The only true Dominicans are the inhabitants of 
Dominica, one of the larger islands of the Lesser Antilles. 

236 



THE ISLAND OF SANTO DOMINGO 237 

turesque aspect, and natural fertility. It is so continental 
in its topograpliic aspect that away from the coast one 
finds it difficult to believe that he is upon an island. 

Santo Domingo presents many phases of interest to the 
student. Besides the fact that it is the only island of the 
American Mediterranean which did not depend politically 
upon some European power, it is interesting for its histori- 
cal associations. Since the date of its discovery until within 
the past decade, nearly every year of its history has been 
marked by some tumultuous event or political revolution. 
Nowhere on the face of the earth, especially within the past 
century, has there been presented such a rapid panorama 
of governmental changes. The French and Spanish sup- 
planted each other, only to be driven from the island by 
the blacks and mulattos; since then many independent 
governments, accompanied by revolutions of remarkable 
interest, have been successively set up amid constant strife 
and turmoil. Yet, on the whole, there has been a progres- 
sive evolution to a goal, at last in sight, of stability and 
progress. It was the first land colonized in the New World 
by Europeans, the starting-point of that civilization which 
spread in the western hemisphere, and is now spreading 
in the distant Indies of which Columbus thought this very 
Island a portion. It is the locality where African slavery 
was first introduced into America, and where, strangely 
enough, emancipation was first proclaimed. Over it has 
been wielded the power of many European nations, the 
blood of the children has been lavishly poured upon its soil, 
and yet to-day "it rests upon the bosom of those tropic 
seas, as beautiful, majestic, and fruitful in all its natural 
gifts as when Columbus first discovered it, waiting only the 
assistance of law and sound government to take its proper 
place in civilization." 

It has been said that its exposed geographic position dur- 
ing the formative days of American history has been in 
part responsible for the present conditions, brought upon 
it by its being successively the battle-ground of the Span- 



238 CUBA AND POKTO KICO 

iards and Indians, the bucaneers, the English, the French, 
the Haitians, and the San Domingoans themselves. 

Taken altogether and looked at in its natural aspects, no 
spot on earth can be more lovely, and it is safe to say that 
probably no extent of territory contains within itself, under 
proper auspices, so many elements of prosperity, worldly 
success, and happiness as this island. Yet, viewed in the 
light of present interests, the island perhaps is the least 
important of the Antilles. Its geography and natural his- 
tory, still but little explored, wiU prove voluminous. 

The greatest length of the island from east to west is a 
little more than four hundred miles ; its greatest width just 
west of the geographic center is one hundred and sixty 
miles; and its periphery is nearly a thousand miles. Its 
area is about thirty- one thousand square miles — six times 
that of Connecticut, and a little more than that of South 
Carolina. 

The outline of the island is the most irregular of all the 
Great Antilles, being noted for an absence of long-con- 
tinued straight stretches of coast-line and marked by 
numerous indentations and angular headlands. This out- 
line resembles that of a swimming frog, whose out- 
stretched head and body, occupied by the eastern republic 
of San Domingo, point toward Porto Rico, while the two 
long trailing peninsulas of the Haitian country, extending 
westward toward Cuba and Jamaica, resemble the out- 
stretched hind legs. On the northeast the i3eninsula of 
Samana reaches out from the land like an extended fore 
limb. 

Inclosed by the western peninsula is the great Gulf of 
Gonaives, an immense semicircular bay with a coast-line 
of two hundred miles. Samana Bay, on the northeast, is 
another extensive indentation into the mainland, while 
Barahona Bay, near the middle of the south coast, and 
Manzanilla Bay, on the north, are also conspicuous inden- 
tations. 

Adjacent to the main island are a few large islands, not 



THE ISLAND OF SANTO DOMINGO 239 

bordering coral reefs like the keys of Cuba, bnt so similar 
to the main island in their mountainous configuration that 
they are apparently remnants of it which have been sev- 
ered in recent geologic time. The largest of these is Go- 
nave, situated in the western gulf of that name, just south 
of the northern peninsula of St. Nicolas. North of the 
same peninsula is the lie de la.Tortue, twenty-two miles 
long and five miles broad, famous in history as the resort 
of bucaneers and the site of the first French settlement. 
At the southeast point is Saona, nearly the size of La Tor- 
j tue. The peninsulas of Samana, on the northeast coast, 
and Tiburon, on the southwest coast, were both islands 
until recent years, the passage between them and the main- 
land having been but lately closed by nature. Altavela, 
lying just off the point of the middle south coast, is a 
smaller islet, with the marked configuration of the mainland. 

The coast of Santo Domingo is fringed in many places 
with reefs, not so numerous or extensive as those of Cuba. 
These are developed inside the bays, and Samana Bay is 
more than half filled by them. Manzanilla Bay is simi- 
larly obstructed. The western gulf is also fringed by many 
coral reefs, and Gronave Island is connected on both sides 
with the shore by reefs broken by a few open passages. 
The south coast of the Tiburon peninsula is bordered by 
a labyrinth of coral reefs, which also occur at the eastern 
extremity of Santo Domingo. In general, the coast is 
rugged and mountainous to the edge of the sea, with here 
and there a few benches of elevated reef rock or high ter- 
races leading to the lofty uplands. 

Approached from the sea, the island has the aspect of a 
huge mass of mountains rising precip^itously from the 
water, extending in all directions and jumbled up in hope- 
less confusion. These appear to come down to the water's 
brink and to be covered with shrubbery and trees of a not 
particularly inviting aspect, and one wonders where the 
people live, or where valuable crops can be grown. From 
whatever direction the mariner approaches the island, 



240 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

these mountains are ever visible ; in fact, the Indian name 
of the island (Haiti) signifies " mountains." 

It has been my observation that the political disorgan- 
ization of tropical countries is proportionate to their 
rugosity. If there is one country better adapted, topo- 
graphically, for political disunity and revolution than 
another, by being divided by inaccessible mountain bar- 
riers into small habitable areas, that cou.ntry, excepting 
Colombia, is Santo Domingo. The horizontal area en- 
circled by its waters is trebled by the verticality of the 
mountains, and whoever contemplates its political recla- 
mation must consider these wild mountains, fit only for 
the habitation of wild men. 

It would be as great an undertaking to describe the 
mountains of Santo Domingo as to describe the Alps. In 
a previous chapter a few words have been said concerning 
their relation to the Grreat Antillean uplift, of which they 
are the center and culmination. It is impossible to con- 
vey to the reader more than a passing idea of these ranges 
and summits, with their hundreds of bewildering names. 
They occupy fully four fifths of the island, and render 
much of it inaccessible. In general, the aspect of the 
whole island is like the mountainous eastern ends of Ja- 
maica and Cuba. 

The mountains consist of lofty forest-covered peaks and 
ridges, like the Blue Mountains of Jamaica and the Sierra 
Maestra of Cuba, between which lie extensive fertile val- 
leys, threaded by streams, all of which— mountains, val- 
leys, and streams — have a prevalent trend of west-north- 
west and south-southeast. These rugged mountain ranges 
may be compared to a series of gigantic ridges and furrows, 
so disconnected and irregularly arranged that if a slight in- 
vasion of the sea should take place through subsidence, the 
whole would resolve itself into four distinct islands, dis- 
posed from east to west in an irregular but subparaUel 
arrangement. 

The northern fragment, the Monte Cristi range, would 




SANTO CERRO CHURCH AND NISPERO DE COLON, OR TREE OF COLUMBUS, BENEATH WHICH MASS WAS 
CELEBRATED AFTER THE GREAT VICTORY OVER THE INDIANS OF LA VEGA 




A STREET SHOWING CATHEDRAL 



SANTO DOMINGO 



THE ISLAND OF SANTO DOMINGO 241 

be found along the eastern half of the north coast from 
Manzanilla Bay, where the boundary of the two republics 
meets the sea, eastward to the Samana peninsula. This 
is separated from the remaining portion of the island by a 
great plain stretching from Samana Bay to Manzanilla 
Bay, threaded by two long rivers, the Yaqui del Norte and 
the Yuna. South of this the main larger orographic sec- 
tion, the Sierra Cibao, is formed by a zone of lofty moun- 
tain lands which runs diagonally the entire length of the 
island from the eastern cape, Engano Point, to Cape St. 
Nicolas, on the Windward Passage. The third and shorter 
section, which is a western ramification of the above, off- 
shooting near the center of the range, is limited by the 
river Artibonite on the north, the San Juan on the east, 
and on the south by a valley occupied by a chain of lakes. 
The fourth and last section is formed by the tall mountains 
of the southwestern peninsula. The central of these sys- 
tems, the Cibao (Rocky) Mountains, constitute the mother 
range of the whole Antillean uplift, and extend through the 
island for a distance of four hundred miles. At its eastern 
end this range is low and narrow, rarely acquiring a height 
of more than a thousand feet ; but going westward near the 
center of the island, it increases in area and altitude, rising 
until some of its numerous peaks are from eight to nine 
thousand feet high — great projecting summits, standing 
above a labyrinth of secondary crests extending in every 
direction from the axial line as superb monuments of ero- 
sion which have survived the general lowering of the land 
through the geologic ages. 

The highest peaks are not necessarily along the main 
crest, the loftiest, known as Mount Tina, 10,300 feet in 
height, being situated to the south of the axial line, 
northwest of the city of San Domingo. The highest emi- 
nence of the main ridge is Pico del Yaqui, so called because 
it is constantly enveloped in silvery clouds. This rises to 
9700 feet, while near by are many mountains 8000 feet or 
more in altitude. Still farther west, toward the Windward 



242 CUBA AND POETO RICO 

Passage, are hundreds of these summits, continuing out to 
the very end of the Gonave peninsula. On the boundary 
between the two republics are at least eight high peaks, 
forming a rough, wild country, inhabited by la valliere, or 
wild maroons of Haiti. 

Westward in Haiti is the mountain on which the des- 
potic negro king Christophe erected the marvelous for- 
tress of La Ferriere, at an altitude of 2560 feet. This 
mountain is the Bonnet-a-la-Eveque, the " Bishop's Cap." 
Still westward these mountains continue out to the very 
end of the rugged St. Nicolas peninsula, near which is the 
Morne d'Or (3962 feet), which has been alleged, without 
reason, to be an extinct volcano ; while in the vicinity are 
many other interesting mountains belonging to the same 
range. The eastern part of this central range has a thou- 
sand names for its many spurs and lateral ranges. From 
the Pico del Yaqui, which, although not the highest moun- 
tain of the island, is nevertheless the center of its orographic 
system, two great rivers bearing its name flow to the north 
and south coasts. Several secondary ranges here branch 
off to the north. On the south the mountains pass gradu- 
ally into rolling hills, between which are many small val- 
leys su^Dporting a poor population. 

The mountains of the Cibao range in general are high 
and closely crowded summits, rising from sinuously curv- 
ing crest -lines, consisting of old igneous rocks protruding 
through the disturbed sedimentary strata, and constituting 
an irregularly shaped mass, often traversing the main 
axis in the central portion of the range, and extending 
with it through the western part into the Haitian re- 
public. 

The base of the mountain of Dondon is granite, on which 
rest limestones and sandstones, conglomerates, and, finally, 
a sheet of the universal white limestone of the Antilles. 
These rocks are intensely folded and plicated. In the 
central portion of these mountains are vast rocky canons, 
penetrated only by hunters of the wild hog. One of these 



THE ISLAND OF SANTO DOMINGO 243 

peaks, that of San Jose de los Mates, is from five to six 
thousand feet high, cut from the naked rocks, which in the 
adjacent mountains reach an altitude of seven thousand feet. 

Elsewhere in places the mountains are clad in forests 
and other verdure. Up to four thousand feet pines are 
found ; farther up, as the precipitation increases, are beau- 
tiful leafy woods ; while on the summits are dense thickets 
of ferns. Vines and bushes render these forests impass- 
able, while the traveler has .to slash his way through 
thickets of ferns often so dense that he must crawl on 
hands and knees through a tunnel cut by himself, and 
blinded by spores at every step. East of Jimonea the 
floral character of the mountains suddenly changes ; the 
pine disappears completely, and spruce appears in its 
place. 

Across the ranges of the central system, which divide 
the republic of San Domingo into a northern and southern 
district, there are few passes. The most important is that 
known as the Widow's Saddle, some five thousand feet in 
height. Across this the road rises laboriously through 
deep ravines in a thousand windings to the Saddle, where 
the beautiful spectacle makes amends for the difficulties 
of the ascent. Here, as described by Moreau : 

The enchanted eye is arrested at a thousand points, where the 
beauty of one glimpse seems to disappear beside a still more 
beautiful view, each pleasant, picturesque, and majestic in its out- 
look. Here the shining surface of the sea at a great distance 
peeps out at intervals, contrasting with the azure tone of the 
distant land, which in its turn delights the eye by the contrast 
with the green of the nearer points. Rivers also mingle the charm 
of their tortuous ways with this enchanting picture, while the 
dark-browed front of the near-by chains rises to the sublime. 
The traveler, as it were, is beside himself ; it is only with grief 
that he tears himself away from this place to commence the oppo- 
site descent, constantly turning his face in order to continue as 
long as possible the delicious gratification of the senses which the 
scenic beauty affords. 



244 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

Anotlier pass, the Sillon de la Viuda, the main gate of 
passage between the north and south sides of San Do- 
mingo, is reached by difficult paths through deep abysses. 
A second but rarely frequented pass between the same 
regions runs for miles along the crest of a narrow range, 
through woods, mud, and slime, to the grassy slopes of the 
Savana de la Puerta. Continuous and abundant rainfall 
at certain seasons transforms the roads into deep mud. 
Other passes are hardly used, and are scarcely more than 
paths which climb over the central range. 

In Haiti similar passes connect the various portions of 
the island. The northern part of the republic has overland 
communication with the south by a post-road running 
through the capes of the Plaisance and Limbe, five thou- 
sand feet high, including, on the Gonave side, the irksome 
and laborious climb known as Les Escaliers, a steep paved* 
road built like a stairway by the black colonel Durocher. 

The next mountain range of importance is that which 
constitutes the long and narrow chain running through 
the southern or Tiburon peninsula of Haiti, which bears 
several names. This elongated sierra, lying chiefly in 
Haiti, borders the western half of the south coast, and is 
separated from the main body of the island by a long 
chain of lakes extending from the interior indentation of 
the great Gulf of Gonaives, at Port-au-Prince, eastward to 
Barahona Bay. The mountain groups comprising this 
chain, which are practically continuous with one another, 
beginning on the east, are the Bandruco and the Mandel de 
los Negros Maron in San Domingo, succeeded in Haiti by 
the long chain known as the La Selle and De la Hotte 
Mountains. This range, as a whole, contains some of the 
highest eminences found in the republic of Haiti, and has 
near its ends two culminating points known as Mornes, 
2880 feet high, while the average height of the crest is 
nearly five thousand feet, rising directly above the sea. 
The Mornes de la Hotte, at the western end, received 
their name from their resemblance to an inverted ham- 



THE ISLAND OF SANTO DOMINGO 245 

per. The summits of these ranges have not been ascended 
or measured, and a thousand fables are told by the super- 
stitious natives dwelling on their slopes of the viens-viens, 
or wild negroes ; of a mysterious lake whose waters con- 
stantly change color, and of pillars of rock which make 
resonant noises. Several difficult passes lead across these 
ranges from Jacmel, the principal southern seaport of 
Haiti, to Port-au-Prince. 

The Monte Cristi chain, which follows the northern coast/ 
is so called from the town in whose immediate vicinity its 
last rocks dip into the sea, and is separated from the rest 
of the island by the Vega Real. The greatest elevation, 
Loma Diego Campo, 3855 feet in altitude, lies near the 
center of the range. The summits broaden and flatten 
perceptibly to the eastward. The western part of the 
'sierra is dry and barren, and from Isabella onward it is 
marked by dry yellow hills covered by thickets of cactus 
and bramble. Owing to their slight altitude they receive 
but little rainfall. 

Besides the systematic ranges above mentioned there 
are many solitary mountains upon the island, rising from 
the plains or bordering islets. Among these independent 
features is the Morne du Cap, just west of Cape Haitien. 
A few miles from the ruins of the old city of La Yega, 
the Cerro Santo rises 787 feet from the midst of a plain. 
Columbus climbed this height with his companions on his 
first visit to the island, in 1493. The view from the sum- 
mit was so beautiful that he planted a cross and called 
the plain the Vega Eeal ("Royal Plain"). 

At Hatillo Maimon is a hill of magnetic iron, described 
by Schomburgk and Gabb. It is 100 feet high, 100 feet 
wide, 300 to 400 feet broad. The side toward the river 
is massive limestone, while the southern half is a mass of 
compact magnetic iron ore, sixty-seven to sixty-eight per 
cent, of native iron. 

Briefly recapitulating the topography of the island, we 
find three main ranges, almost all of which run parallel to 



246 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

the island axis, or in a direction west-northwest : first, the 
great central Cibao range, with its two side branches, 
the Tina Mountains and the Montagnes Noires Cahos; 
second, the southern cordillera, with its two culminations 
and outlying Canal Mountains ; and, third, the Sierra de 
Monte Cristi, with the Puerta Plata group in the fore- 
ground, including the small ridge of the Samana peninsula. 
At the same time there are some less important isolated 
elevations, such as the Morne du Cap, the Sambo Hills, 
the Penones, and Mount Busu. In addition to the sharp 
slopes of the thousands of V-shaped gorges cut by the 
numerous streams, the main ranges are separated from 
one another, especially in the republic of San Domingo, 
by extensive central valley plains, which were at one time 
either arms of the ocean or lakes, and, like the mountains, 
they trend northward and westerly. The largest of these, 
lying between the north-coast sierra of Monte Cristi and 
the great central cordillera of Cibao, extends one hundred 
miles from the sea at the Haitian boundary into the Grulf 
of Samana, which is its prolongation. Two rivers, the 
Yaqui and Yuna, enter the middle portion of this valley 
from the central mountains, and, diverging, thread it in 
opposite directions to the sea. The western portion, 
watered by the first-mentioned river, is known as the 
valley of Santiago or of the Yaqui, while the eastern part 
is the Vega Real. In no places is this valley over fifteen 
miles in width, and at each end it is marked by salt- 
marshes and lagoons. The two divisions present marked 
dissimilarities in vegetation, due to differences of rainfall 
and moisture. The windward division, covered by 
beautiful deciduous plants, is a most fertile, beautiful, and 
well- watered valley. The Santiago plain is an arid region 
covered by chaparral, where, as in Arizona, several species 
of thorny acacias dispute the ground with cactus, here 
more diversified than anywhere in the West Indies, and 
including arborescent opuntias, like the nopal of Mexico ; 
tall, columnar cereus, like the pitahaya of California ; and 



THE ISLAND OF SANTO DOMINGO 247 

melon- and cushion-shaped cacti of several kinds — in all 
nearly twenty species. The land is now used only for 
grazing, but is well situated for irrigation. In fact, the 
region is a miniature duplication of the American deserts. 

South of the Cibao range, between its slopes and the 
Caribbean Sea, in the eastern third of the island, is an- 
other extensive plain, ninety-five miles in length, known 
as the plain of Seylo, which slopes from the central 
mountains to the sea and terminates west of San Domingo 
city, in which the principal population of the southern 
half of the republic of San Domingo is located. This is 
a more broken region than the great plain of the north, 
and is in part open prairie and in part forest. A belt of 
forest averaging twelve miles in width borders the ter- 
raced Caribbean coast. The line of juncture between the 
coast forest and the interior prairies is marked by beauti- 
ful park-like landscapes, carpeted with green grass and 
dotted by clumps of trees. The soil of this plain is grav- 
elly to the westward, but changes into loams and clays 
toward the east. 

West of San Domingo city, between it and Azua, for a 
distance of fifty miles, a broad belt of mountainous coun- 
try projecting southward from the central range comes 
down to the shore of the sea. Then comes the Bay of 
Ocoa, surrounded by a plain from which two narrow val- 
leys, or rather chains of valleys, lead north-of-west toward 
the Windward Passage. Around Azua the plain is another 
desert in the oasis, if we may be permitted to transpose the 
familiar figure. The whole neighborhood is barren, dry, 
and thorny. Yet three miles to the southwest the whole 
character of the country changes so completely that one 
finds there the best sugar-estates on the island. 

Northwest of Azua, leading toward the south side of the 
St. Nicolas peninsula, and surrounded by high mountains, 
is the Vale of Constanzia. This somewhat inaccessible 
valley is described in glowing terms by those who have 
seen it. Its soil is exceedingly fertile and is covered by a 



248 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

deep mantle of guinea-grass. During the "old Spanish 
time " this is said to have been the richest region of the 
island, but it was depopulated bj^ the turmoils of warfare, 
owing to its proximity to the boundary of the warring re- 
publics, although the San Domingoans are now reoccupy- 
ing it. 

Still south of the Constanzia, separated by high moun- 
tains, is the great depression of the Laguna Enriquillo, 
reaching from the Azua plain, on the Caribbean, to Port- 
au-Prince, on the Windward Passage, and almost severing 
the Tiburon peninsula of Haiti, with its wild inhabitants, 
from the remainder of the island. This valley was an 
oceanic strait in very recent geologic times. 

The island, like all the Antilles, is abundantly watered 
by streams flowing from the perpetual region of rainfall of 
the high mountains. Every district has its rivulet or river, 
while four great mother streams rise in the geographic cen- 
ter of the island, around the slopes of the Pico del Yaqui, 
and find their way to the sea in different directions. Two 
of these, the Manai (or Yuna) and the Yaqui of the north, 
flow northward to the great plain, upon reaching which 
they turn east and west respectively in opposite directions, 
one into the Bay of Samana, on the east, and the other into 
Manzanilla Bay. They are navigable by canoes for long dis- 
tances. The Artibonite flows from this summit westward 
through Haiti, of which it is the chief stream, into the Gulf 
of Gonaives. To the southward runs the San Juan, empty- 
ing into Barahona Bay, San Domingo. Smaller rivers and 
their tributaries drain every portion of the island. The 
most copious of these is the Ozama, flowing into the Carib- 
bean at the city of San Domingo. One of its tributaries, 
the Brujuelas, after flowing on the surface to within twelve 
miles of the coast, plunges into a chasm. 

The only lakes are those of the east-and-west depression, 
which separates the southern peninsula from the main 
portion of the island. The largest of these stands at a 
height of about three hundred feet ; owing to its saltness, 



THE ISLAND OF SANTO DOMINGO 249 

the Haitian negroes call it the ^fitang Sale. This basin, 
formerly an oceanic inlet, is said to be still inhabited by 
sharks, porpoises, and even crocodiles. It has an area of 
one hundred and seventy square miles and is very deep. 
After heavy rains it occasionally forms a continuous sheet 
of water with another lake, called Funda, which extends 
northwest toward Port-au-Prince Bay. The united lake 
has a total length of sixty miles, with an average breadth 
of nine or ten, and is larger than the Lake of Gleneva. 
Farther south in the mountains of Tiburon peninsula is the 
fresh- water lake, Icotea de Limon. 

In general, the geology of the island is similar to that 
of Cuba and Jamaica, more especially the eastern ends, 
being composed of four principal formations : the older 
mountain rocks, of Cretaceous and Tertiary age, made up 
of igneous rocks and clays, mantled by gravels and crystal- 
line limestone ; the white limestones of Tertiary age ; recent 
alluvial formations; and the coast limestone of elevated 
reef rock. No recent volcanic rocks are known. The 
geology and minerals of Santo Domingo have been the 
subject of special reports by many writers, including three 
Amterican geologists, Messrs. Blake, Grabb, and Marvin. 

Coal is reported in considerable quantities in the vicinity 
of Samana Bay and elsewhere, but on examination it has 
proved to be lignite, of little value for fuel. Silver, plati- 
num, manganese, tin, antimony, marble, opal, and chal- 
cedony are among the exploited minerals. 

The climate of Santo Domingo is more diversified than 
that of any of the other Antilles, presenting wide extremes 
of moisture, aridity, and temperature. The heat at Port-au- 
Prince, at the western end of the island, owing to its shel- 
tered situation* is probably greater than at any other 
seaport in the West Indies, reaching 94° to 96° every day 
between April and October. The nights are on an average 
10° to 20° cooler than the days, so that they seem cool 
and refreshing in comparison. This is in the so-called 
rainy season, the rains falling, as a rule, late in the after- 



250 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

noon or evenings. During the rest of the year, which 
covers the dry season from October to April, the tempera- 
ture is on an average about 10° lower. 

On the less sheltered coasts, even at sea-level, it is much 
cooler ; and as one ascends the mountains of the interior, 
the intense heat of the seaboard becomes moderated. Six- 
teen hundred feet above the sea, Americans and Europeans 
complain of the cold at night, though even there the mer- 
cury never falls below 45°. 

At Port-au-Prince the rainy season covers the summer 
months, but in the other parts of the republic the rains 
run into and cover the winter months, so that there is 
never a season when rain prevails everywhere. In general, 
on the lower slopes of the Windward side and in the de- 
pressed interior valleys, it is arid, rain sometimes being 
almost constantly lacking ; but the mountains above two 
thousand feet are perpetually bathed in rainfall, mists, or 
dews. 

With the exception of wild hogs on the lie de la 
Tortue, some untamed horses and cattle in the eastern 
part of Haiti, and wild goats, there are few animals on the 
island. Even the agouti, that peculiar Antillean mammal, 
is believed to be nearly extinct, and the selenodon (or coati) 
is rarely found. There are no poisonous snakes. Land- 
turtles, reptiles, and lizards abound, but they are harmless. 
Of the forty species of birds recorded in Haiti, seventeen 
are peculiar to it. The cayman abounds in all the rivers 
of the Despoblado district, and the iguana sometimes 
attains a length of five feet. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE EEPUBLIC OF SAN DOMINGO 

Political and social conditions of the island as a whole. The repubUc of 
San Domingo. Interesting early history. The present government 
and administration. Commerce and agriculture. Mineral resources. 
Population. Predominance of mulattos. Old San Domingo city. 
Early American landmarks. Other points of interest. 

THE political and social conditions of Santo Domingo 
are no less interesting than its natural features. 
Nowhere else can be seen such peculiar conditions, show- 
ing as they do, at the eastern end of the island the 
decline and degeneration of a people once the most 
opulent, and at the other extremity the successive steps in 
the ascent of a transplanted inferior race from savagery 
through barbarism to a degree of civilization. These 
two republics are respectively San Domingo and Haiti— 
the first a mulatto government, the second one of the 
negro. While the domain of San Domingo nominally in- 
cludes two thirds of the whole, the island is really divisible 
into three distinct parts. The eastern third contains 
nearly all the San Domingoan population. The middle 
third, known as the Despoblado ("Depopulated"), is an 
uninhabited neutral ground, made barren not only by 
nature, which filled it with inaccessible mountains, but 
by the warfare between the two races. It is a wild region 
covered with forests of tropical trees, with a few valleys 
where the soil is rich and the grass is especially luxuriant 
and supports many wild cattle. The western third is 
"the land of the Haitians. Between the two governments 

251 



252 CUBA AND POKTO BICO 

there is a political antipathy as strong and forbidding as 
their rugged frontier. Port-au-Prince, the capital of the 
western republic, lies due south of the city of New York, 
while San Domingo is similarly situated relative to Boston. 

Perhaps no other country has had such a varied politi- 
cal history as San Domingo. Columbus discovered the 
island in 1492, and found it more beautiful than Cuba. 
He exhausted the language of panegyric in describing it 
as resembling the most favored provinces of Andalusia. 
Concerning the aborigines he said: "I swear to your 
Majesties, there is not in the world a better nation nor a 
better land ; they love their neighbors as themselves, and 
their discourse is ever sweet and gentle, accompanied 
with a smile ; and though it is true that they are naked, 
yet their manners are decorous and praiseworthy." 

Columbus first entered the Haitian Grulf of Gronaives, 
which he called San Nicolas, and because of the wrecking 
of one of his caravels made a temporary settlement on 
the Bay of St. Thomas, now called Auel, where he left a 
small party of his men. After sailing east as far as Sa- 
mana he returned to Spain. On his second voyage he re- 
turned to the island, and finding that his men had been 
murdered by the Indians, established a new colony, called 
Isabella, in the present area of San Juan. The spot chosen 
was unhealthful. He explored the interior of the island, 
found much gold, and remained long enough to see the 
colony of Isabella well started. In 1498 he made his 
third visit, and established himself near the present city 
of San Domingo. 

In those days of early settlement, 23rofitable mines were 
opened, advances were made in agriculture, and in 1495 
San Domingo, Isabella, Concepcion de la Vega, Santiago, 
Puerta Plata, and Bonao, were all flourishing Spanish vil- 
lages. In 1509 Bobadilla came out from Spain and threw 
Columbus and his brother Bartholomew into prison. The 
cell in which they were confined is still shown in the old 
citadel of San Domingo city. 



THE REPUBLIC OF SAN DOMINGO 253 

Sugar, which has been so intimately connected with 
West Indian development and decay, was introduced in 
1506, and in a few years its cultivation became the princi- 
pal occupation of the colonists. It is unnecessary to 
review the events of these earlier years, when Spanish in- 
stitutions became firmly implanted on American soil. 
The reduction of the natives to slavery; their utilization 
in the cane-fields and gold-mines, and final extermi- 
nation through hardships; the raiding of the Bahamas 
and adjacent islands for other slaves, and the intro- 
duction of African slavery, all followed one another in 
rapid succession. As early as 1522 African slaves on the 
sugar-plantations were sufficiently numerous to mutiny. 
The Inquisition was introduced in 1517. 

During the few years between its discovery and 1540, 
San Domingo flourished. It witnessed in this time the 
construction of cities, the introduction of sugar and Afri- 
can slavery into the New World, the increase of vast 
herds of wild cattle upon the island, and the establish- 
ment of the old civilization of Spain in every detail. The 
mines of gold and silver produced lordly fortunes for 
their owners. But decay began as early as 1540. The colo- 
nists were seduced away by the reports of riches on the 
American continent, and then followed a period of attack 
from the bucaneers of England and France, and the country 
has had very little peace since then, until within the past 
two decades. The people received in full force the terrible 
incursions of the freebooters from the middle of the six- 
teenth until the opening of the present century. The 
little island of Tortuga, near the northwest corner of Haiti, 
became the center and headquarters from which they made 
their forays. The French and English virtually seized the 
western and northern parts of the island piece by piece, 
the former gradually acquiring possession of the western 
half, as more particularly noted in the description of 
Haiti. 

Up to 1697 the entire island was a Spanish colony. In 



254 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

the latter year the western portion, embracing the present 
republic of Haiti, was ceded to France. In 1785, the two 
hundred and seventy-fifth year of Spanish rule, France 
was given sovereignty over the whole island, which was 
formally abandoned by the Spanish government in 1801, 
Toussaint L'Ouverture taking possession in the name of 
France. Then followed Haiti's independence of France, 
and the period of the black Haitian empire under Dessa- 
lines until 1806, when Spain for the second time reestab- 
lished herself in the eastern half of the island, under the 
old name of San Domingo, Haiti continuing as a separate 
country. In 1821, during the period of general Spanish- 
American revolution, the San Domingoans proclaimed 
their independence of Spain, and established for them- 
selves a republican form of government under the flag 
and authority of Colombia. At this time most of the old 
Spanish element migrated from the island. In the follow- 
ing year the two republics of the island again united their 
destinies under a government known as the republic of 
Haiti, which continued until 1843. In 1844 San Domingo 
revolted from Haiti and established the Republica Do- 
minicana. From that date to the present Haiti and San 
Domingo have remained independent of each other and 
have grown more and more distinct. In 1861 Spain for 
the third time established its authority in San Domingo, 
which was retained for four years, until 1865, when 
its flag was withdrawn. Since then San Domingo has 
maintained its autonomy. Thus it will be seen that 
within less than a century San Domingo has been suc- 
cessively under the Spanish, French, Haitian empire, 
Colombia, Haitian republic, independent, Spanish, and 
independent flags. Moreover, the country has been torn 
by internal revolutions, and up to within recent years 
by constant warfare with Haiti. The people, realizing 
the hopelessness of their isolated position and the need 
of a stronglj^ organized government, in 1869 voted to 
annex themselves to the United States. A commission 



THE EEPUBLIC OF SAN DOMINGO 255 

was appointed by the United States government to in- 
vestigate the condition of affairs. It visited the island in 
1871, and reported favorably, but the annexation treaty 
was defeated in the United States Senate. During the 
past few years, according to the consular reports, the 
country has prospered and become comparatively quiet. 
Many immigrants, recently arrived from Cuba, have been 
encouraged to settle on the island. 

The present republic, founded in 1844, is governed 
under a constitution by the terms of which the legislative 
power is vested in a congress of twenty-two deputies, 
chosen by direct popular vote with restricted suffrage. 
The executive is vested in a president, chosen by an elec- 
toral college for the term of four years. The present 
president is Greneral Ulysses Heureaux, chosen in 1897. 
The ministry is composed of the heads of the departments 
of the interior and police, finance and commerce, justice 
and public instruction, war and marine, public works, 
and foreign affairs. 

The country is divided into ten provinces or districts, 
each administered by a governor appointed by the presi- 
dent. The various communes, cantons, and sections are 
presided over by prefects appointed by the governors. 
There are a supreme court of justice and eleven district 
courts, besides local alcaldes. A small army exists, with a 
regiment stationed in each province. 

In 1896 the exports were valued at $2,198,817 gold ; the 
imports at $1,703,595. The customs duties are of a pro- 
hibitory character, and hence commerce is not large. The 
principal articles of export, in their order of value, are 
tobacco, coffee, cocoa, sugar, mahogany, logwood, hides, 
goatskins, and honey. 

The revenue in 1896 was $1,545,450. The expenditure is 
$1,351,250. The public debt is $13,589,750. This is guar- 
anteed by the customs dues and by a first mortgage on 
the Central Dominican Eailway. The collection of the 
customs is controlled by the Santo Domingo Improvement 



256 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

Company of New York. The United States gold dollar is 
the standard of the island. 

The Roman Catholic is the official state religion, other 
forms being permitted under certain restrictions. There 
are fifty-four parishes. 

The state educational institutions are primary, superior, 
technical, and normal schools, and a professional school 
with the character of a university. The last school census, 
taken in 1884, showed that there were two hundred and one 
municipal schools for primary instruction with 7708 pupils. 
Primary instruction is free and obligatory, being supported 
by the communes and by central aid. 

About forty newspapers are published in the republic. 

San Domingo has the most fertile sugar-lands in the 
West Indies. Large sugar-plantations and -factories are 
found in the south and west. The cane does not require 
frequent replanting, and plantations have often yielded 
fifteen cuttings from the original roots. The cane is also 
highly saccharine. Its production has quadrupled in the 
last ten years, and the estates and factories represent a 
capitalization of about twelve million dollars. About one 
million six hundred thousand dollars is annually expended 
upon them for labor. This industry is almost entirely a 
growth of the last fifteen years. The export to the United 
States for 1896 amounted to two million five hundred 
thousand pounds — about one fortieth the normal Cuban 
shipment. 

The mountain regions of San Domingo, like those of 
Haiti, Cuba, and Jamaica, are especially suited to the cul- 
ture of coffee. The annual yield is about a million and a 
half pounds. The area of uncultivated lands suitable for 
coffee in this island probably exceeds that of all the rest 
of the Antilles. 

Cocoa is extensively cultivated, much foreign capital 
having been invested in it within recent years, and the 
production having multiplied fivefold within the past 
decade. 




CITADEL WHERE COLUMBUS WAS IMPRISONED 




ALLEGED COFFIN OF COLUMBUS 

SANTO DOMINGO 



THE EEPUBLIC OF SAN DOMINGO 257 

Tobacco grows readily everywhere, and, in addition to 
local use, nearly thirteen million pounds are annually ex- 
ported. The principal area of culture is on the northern 
side. It is said that some of the tobacco of the uplands 
of the interior is quite as highly flavored and as good as 
the best Vuelta Abajo, and if Cuban skill were exercised 
in its culture and curing it would be a most valuable ar- 
ticle. Yet tobacco-culture is declining, while the production 
of coffee, cocoa, and bananas, as well as cane-sugar, is on 
the increase. Some attention has recently been given to 
cattle-raising and dairy produce. A large part of the 
Vega Eeal, as well as other parts of San Domingo, is 
admirably adapted to cultivation by irrigation, which 
could be accomplished at a very trifling expense in com- 
parison with other lands. 

What we have said concerning tropical fruits in the other 
Antilles applies equally to Santo Domingo. They grow 
everywhere throughout the island. American companies 
have appreciated the banana-lands, and large shipments are 
made from Samana Bay. The luxuriance of the native 
forests is one of the most striking features; large tracts 
of these in the interior have been preserved, owing to 
their inaccessibility to transportation. On these mountain 
slopes is an abundance, not only of the choicest cabinet- 
woods, such as mahogany, satinwoods, and cedar, but also 
a great variety of timber especially valuable for house- and 
ship-building, and many other woods which enter into 
manufactures. 

San Domingo has been a center of the mining interests, 
but at present its mineral resources are neglected. The 
republic in former years engaged an American geologist, 
Mr. W. M. Gabb, to make a geological survey of its do- 
main, and a good report has been published thereon. Gold, 
which was worked extensively in the earlier years of its 
discovery, occurs both in placers in the plains and in 
quartz veins higher up in the mountains. The gravel is 
rich in quality, but the quantity is too small over any 

17 o 



258 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

given area to make it of value. There are many ancient 
pits which were worked by the Spaniards. Professor W. M. 
Blake, who accompanied the United States commission to 
the island, says : " There is no doubt that there is a gold 
region of considerable extent and promise in the island, 
but I did not see anything to excite great enthusiasm 
regarding the deposits, or to encourage expectation of im- 
mediate large returns for mining operations there. There 
is enough, however, possibly to justify the labor and ex- 
pense of carefully prospecting the ground." It is said that 
many of the country people always have more or less 
grain gold in their possession, and that the washing of it 
is a considerable source of minor income. It is a matter 
of history that the Spaniards in the earlier years of dis- 
covery remitted over four hundred and sixty thousand 
dollars in gold per annum to Spain, and that silver- 
mines also were worked. Furthermore, these mines were 
abandoned principally on account of the subsequent polit- 
ical troubles. There is also evidence that copper, similar 
to that found in Cuba, occurs in San Domingo. Iron ore 
of excellent quality is found on the Maymon River, about 
one hundred miles from Samana Bay, but its transporta- 
tion is still a problem. 

The population of San Domingo in 1888 was six hundred 
and ten thousand, or about thirty-four to the square mile. 
It was then and is still mainly composed of mixtures of 
the early Spanish inhabitants with the aborigines and 
negroes, resulting in a class of Spanish mulattos. There 
are some whites of European descent and a few foreign 
merchants. The Spanish language prevails, although 
French and English are commonly spoken in the cities. 
This population is neither savage nor vicious, although its 
vitality has been greatly sapped by the unfortunate politi- 
cal events which drove the superior classes from the island. 
The better people seem to have the same qualities as the 
Cubans and Porto Ricans, while the peasantry is a harm- 
less though shiftless class, in no manner to be compared 



THE KEPUBLIC OF SAN DOMINGO 259 

with the Haitians. Hazard states that at a pubhc meet- 
ing accorded to the Hon. Andrew D. White, in which the 
elite of the people of Sabao were present, he was struck 
by the fine forms and intellectual heads of those present, 
comprising representatives of the church, law, medicine, 
and the leading native merchants. 

As the interior is not well supplied with highways, ac- 
cess from one district to another is difficult. A railroad is 
completed between Sanchez, on Samana Bay, and La Vega, 
sixty-two miles beyond, and is being carried on to Santiago 
and Puerta Plata. During the past year another has been 
completed connecting Santiago with the port of Puerta 
Plata, on the north coast. The distance covered is forty- 
five miles. Years have been spent in the construction of 
this line, and it crosses two mountain ranges. Yet another 
line is contemplated between Barahona and Cerro de Sal. 
The total mileage of railways in operation is one hundred 
and sixteen. There are fifty-one post-offices and four 
hundred and thirty miles of telegraph. 

The coast-line of San Domingo is nine hundred and forty 
miles in extent. The republic has seven open ports : San 
Domingo city and Azua, on the south; Samana, on the 
northeast ; Puerta Plata, Monte Cristi, Macoris, and San- 
chez, on the north. The great Bay of Samana is to San 
Domingo what Mole St. Nicolas is to Haiti. From every 
point of view it is one of the most advantageous posses- 
sions in the Antilles. It is thirty miles long, ten miles 
wide, and capable of accommodating the largest fleets, 
and ships of the greatest draft. It is well sheltered, espe- 
cially against the north winds, free from rocks and shoals, 
and restricted by a narrow entrance, but commercially is 
little utilized. The republic has two small steamers. 

The country has but few cities of importance, and most 
of these are in a state of decadence. The principal are 
San Domingo and Azua, on the south coast ; the interior city 
of Santiago, the metropolis of the Vega Real ; and Puerta 
Plata, the seaport of San Domingo on the north coast. 



260 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

San Domingo city (population twenty-five thousand) is 
in an angle inclosed by the sea on the south side and the 
mouth of the river Ozama on the west. It is perhaps the 
most perfect specimen of the sixteenth-century Spanish 
city in America. It is completely surrounded by a medie- 
val wall, forty-five hundred yards in circumference. As 
one looks from the sea upon the ancient walls and bas- 
tions and the Old- World buildings, every feature recalls 
the events of the first century of Spanish- American pros- 
perity. The houses on straight and narrow streets are 
built of masonry, with gaily colored walls, immense doors, 
and large windows Hke those of Havana and San Juan ; 
but once within the city its inhabitants remove the spell, 
for its lower population consists of dirty negroes, and filth 
everywhere abounds. The suburbs are composed of unat- 
tractive frame and mud huts thatched with palm or straw. 
The walls of the older houses are constructed of stone 
and mamposteria (a calcareous concrete). As the traveler 
through the deserted and decayed streets of San Domingo 
looks at the immense structures, the solid walls and ruins 
of former greatness, he finds himself wondering what has 
become of those incentives to enterprise which were the 
origin of such a city. 

The old churches and ruins are interesting, but other- 
wise there are few attractive buildings. The government 
palace, while grandiose in effect, owing to its balconied 
piazzas supported on solid pillars, is neither handsome nor 
striking. The old cathedral is the most interesting build- 
ing in the city ; in fact, it is one of the great monuments 
of the western hemisphere. This Grothic edifice, which 
faces the public square, is built of solid stone, and has a 
nave and two wings, being constructed after the model of 
a church in Rome. It was begun in 1512 and finished in 
1540. The weather-stained walls of the exterior show 
marks of its great antiquity, while the interior, with its 
pillars, arches, crypts, and innumerable altars, confirms the 
accounts of those writers who have given such glowing 



THE KEPUBLIC OF SAN DOMINGO 261 

descriptions of its splendor in ancient days. In its vaults 
are buried many of the notable characters of early Ameri- 
can history, including the family of Columbus, and, if the 
natives are to be believed, the remains of the immortal ex- 
plorer himself, which, according to them, were not taken 
to Havana. Another old landmark of the city is the castle 
of Columbus, situated upon the east bank of the Ozama 
River, and built by Diego Columbus, the admiral's son. It 
is a solid stone structure surrounded by a wall originally 
intended to protect it from the attacks of the aborigines. 
It is now in ruin and decay. 

Long years of adversity and revolution have impover- 
ished the city. No improvements take place, and communi- 
cation with the other towns of the island is difficult. Be- 
sides being the seat of government, it is also the seat of the 
Roman Catholic archbishopric. 

The place has a good reputation for healthfulness, not- 
withstanding its filth. The temperature shows a daily 
variation from 64° in the morning to 85° at midday . 

Santiago de los Caballeros, situated on the Yaqui River, 
in the northern plain, surrounded by hills and mountains, 
is probably the most important city of the republic. This 
also is one of the most ancient places in the New World. 
It was subjected to attacks from the early French buca- 
neers, burned by fires, shaken by earthquakes, and almost 
destroyed by the later revolutions. The city is built around 
a large plaza, or square, in which the market is held ; the 
streets are straight and rectangular, and the houses in the 
main part of the town are constructed of stone. It is about 
one hundred and sixty miles northwest of the capital, with 
which it has no commercial intercourse, its seaport being 
the town of Puerta Plata, on the north coast. It lies in the 
heart of the finest agricultural region of the island. Its 
climate is salubrious. The population of eight thousand 
is largely composed of whites, many of whom are intelli- 
gent and well educated. The place controls the tobacco- 
trade^ which is largely in the hands of the Glermans. 



262 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

Concepcion de la Vega, on the river Camu, one of the 
tributaries of the Yuna, a short distance from Santiago, is 
the successor to a famous old town established by Colum- 
bus in 150-4, which was located six miles northwest. This 
town lies in the center of a beautiful savanna completely- 
surrounded by hills, and is laid out rectangularly, with the 
usual plaza in the center. It has a cathedral out of all 
proportion to the population, an imposing structure of 
stone with many arches. Six miles from the town is 
the famous cerro of Columbus, which I have previously 
mentioned. Upon the level top of this hill is a wooden 
church belonging to the Brothers of Mercy and command- 
ing a superb view of the Vega Real. 

Puerta Plata is the principal northern seaport, having 
good anchorage and an extensive trade in tobacco. It 
has an estimated population of fifteen thousand, and is 
the outlet of the Vega Eeal district, being connected by 
rail with Santiago. It is said that this city was planned 
by Columbus on his first voyage. 

Azua de la Compostela, situated about fifty-five miles 
west of San Domingo city, is the next town of importance 
on the south coast, but has only fifteen hundred inhabi- 
tants. It is in an arid plain, previously described, but the 
adjacent country abounds in salt and asphaltum, and near 
by are vast grazing-grounds as well as prosperous cane- 
fields. 

Of the many villages, Samana, on the northern side of 
Samana Bay, has about one thousand inhabitants ; Monte 
Cristi, on the northern coast, thirty miles east of Cape 
Haitien, three thousand ; and Seybo, fifty miles northeast 
of San Domingo city, five thousand. 



CHAPTER XXV 

THE EEPUBLIC OF HAITI 

Its mountamotis cliaractei\ Extensive coast-line. Its constitution and 
organization. Education and religion. Commerce and revenue. 
Communication. Cities (Cape Haitien, Port de Paix, Gonaives, St. 
Marc, Port-au-Prince, Aux Cayes). The people. Supremacy of the 
blacks. Race antipathies. Personal appearance and domestic rela- 
tions of the Haitians. Superstitions. The struggle for liberty. The 
blacks not to blame for the condition of the repubhc. Island products 
and commerce. 

THE republic of Haiti, which, occupies the western 
third of Santo Domingo, is quite a different country 
from San Domingo, in its natural, political, and sociologic 
features. While the latter country is decadent in its agri- 
cultural, commercial, and governmental conditions, Haiti 
has the merit of being thoroughly alive, and, while not 
presenting an altogether pleasing picture, is a country 
worthy of serious study and capable of development. Its 
area is 10,204 English square miles. 

As has been said by others, the configuration of the 
country appears a confused agglomeration of mountains, 
hills, and valleys, most irregular in form — precipices, deep 
hollows, vales apparently without an outlet, but with 
water occasionally glistening far below, and cottages scat- 
tered here and there, with groves of fruit-trees and ba- 
nanas clustering round the rude dwellings. G-radually, 
however, the eye, growing accustomed to the scene, sepa- 
rates the mountains into distinct ranges, the hills into at- 

263 



264 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

tendant buttresses, the valleys assume regular forms 
as watersheds, and the streams can be traced irregularly 
mieandering towards the ocean. Toward the sea the 
valleys extend into plains, the rushing torrents be- 
come broad though shallow rivers, and mountains that 
bound the flat open country push their buttresses almost 
into the sea. 

The whole of the republic is more or less mountainous, 
the most noted mountain ranges being the La Haute and 
Black Mountains (which constitute the axes of the two 
projecting peninsulas), and a line of high summits on the 
eastern frontier. 

The La Haute range is a continuation of the great axial 
sierra of the island, while the Black Mountains constitute 
the peculiar isolated southern group previously described. 
Notwithstanding the generally mountainous configura- 
tion, there are many beautiful slopes and valleys, such as 
the cul-de-sac near Port-au-Prince, the plains of Gronaives, 
Artibonite, Arcahaie, Port Margot, Leogane, Aux Cayes, 
and those that follow the northern coast. There are a few 
islands attached to Haiti, the principal of which are La 
Tortue on the north, Gronave on the west, and L'lle-a- 
Vache on the south coast. The first two are famous for 
their naahogany-trees. 

The republic has a large extent of accessible coast-line, 
marked by numerous bays and inlets, including eleven 
ports open to foreign commerce, and numerous smaller 
ports open only to the coasting-trade. 

The largest river of Haiti is the i\.rtibonite, which flows 
to the west through the great central valley of the same 
name. There are forty-three other streams distinguished 
by their names. 

The flora of Haiti has been only partially explored by 
Tussac, Descom-tils, and others. It is unmarked by arid 
types like those of the plains of San Domingo, and in- 
cludes one hundred and sixty plants supposed to possess 
medicinal properties. No cultivation, gathering, or expor- 



THE REPUBLIC OF HAITI 265 

tation of anything in this line for commercial purposes 
appears ever to have been undertaken. 

The government, though republican in form, has been 
described as a military despotism in which all the power 
is concentrated in the hands of the president, who en- 
forces or ignores the laws according to his pleasure. It is 
true that the government is more or less despotic, and is 
too often marked by revolutions. Of the eleven rulers of 
the island since its freedom, nearly all have been assas- 
sinated or exiled. Only one has escaped being either shot 
or deported, and only two ever completed their terms of 
office. Nevertheless, there is a semblance of civilized 
government, more advanced than has been represented, 
which appears especially liberal in comparison with the 
low degree of culture of the inhabitants and their past 
treatment. 

The republic has a constitution in which, notwith- 
standing frequent amendment, the essential principles of 
free republican government have been preserved since the 
time of Dessalines, and in general the changes made in it 
from time to time have shown a steady tendency toward 
liberalism. For example, in addition to the provisions as 
to the inviolability of the territory, the absolute freedom 
of religious worship, and the equality of citizens before 
the law, it provides for the independence of the judi- 
ciary, trial by jury, individual freedom, exemption from 
unlawful domiciliary visits and arbitrary arrests, encour- 
agement of education (primary-school attendance being 
made obligatory), the freedom of the press and of speech, 
the sacredness of epistolary correspondence, the inhibi- 
tion of ex post facto laws, the security of property rights, 
and individual responsibility for public acts. 

Furthermore, although until within a recent period 
citizenship was restricted to persons of African origin, 
and the right to possess property went with citizenship, 
just as it did in Grreat Britain and her colonies up to 1870, 
and just as it does now to some extent in some of the 



266 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

States of the American Union, yet the constitution ex- 
pressly provides that every foreigner can become a citizen 
by fulfilling the regulations established by law. 

As the origin of the republic, its language, its traditions, 
the manners and social customs of its people, are essen- 
tially French, so its laws and forms of legal procedure are 
based on those of France. Indeed, as far as possible they 
are an exact copy of those prevailing in France. The 
Code Napoleon, which has so strong a foothold in all coun- 
tries of Latin origin, is probably more closely followed in 
Haiti than in any other of the American republics. The 
legislative power rests in the National Assembly, divided 
into two chambers, the Senate and House of Eepresenta- 
tives. The latter is elected for the term of three years 
by the direct vote of all male citizens engaged in some oc- 
cupation ; while the thirty-nine members of the Senate are 
nominated for six years by the House of Eepresentatives 
from two lists presented by the executive and the elec- 
toral colleges. The executive power is in the hands of a 
president, who, according to the constitution, must be 
elected by the people, but in recent years has generally 
been chosen by the National Assembly, and in some in- 
stances by the troops, and by delegates of parties acting 
as representatives of the people. The nominal term of the 
office of the president is seven years. The present presi- 
dent of the republic is General Tiresias Simon Sam, elected 
in 1896, who receives a salary of $22,800. 

The divisions of the country are, like those of France, 
departments, arrondissements, and communes. The gen- 
eral of the department and the general of the arrondisse- 
ment are the officers to whom all powers are delegated, 
although there are hosts of minor officials. These generals 
are despotic, as a rule, and their dictum is law, as they are 
seldom called to account for their actions by the superior 
authority. 

There are five departments, twenty-three arrondisse- 
ments, and sixty-seven communes. The chief department, 



THE EEPUBLIC OF HAITI 267 

near the center of the republic, is that of the West, in 
which Port-au-Prince is situated. The Department of the 
North, of which Cape Haitien is the capital, is the most 
troublesome, on account of the revolutionary ideas of its 
inhabitants. The people are always restless and dislike 
the inhabitants of the rest of the republic. The Depart- 
ment of the South, which includes the western half of the 
Tiburon peninsula, is the most backward of all, has been 
generally neglected, and is inhabited by wild people. Aux 
Cayes is the capital of this province. 

Haiti has an army of 6828 men, chiefly infantry. There 
is a special Gruard of the Government, numbering 650 men, 
commanded by ten generals, who also act as aides-de-camp 
to the president. The republic also possesses a flotilla of six 
small vessels officered by Americans and Europeans, which 
may be ranked as third-class cruisers. 

From 1804 to the present the moral welfare of Haiti has 
been largely neglected by other nations and people, who 
have extended to it neither sympathy, recognition, nor aid. 
It was not until 1862 that the Senate of the United States, 
on the recommendation of President Lincoln,voted to recog- 
nize its political independence ; and the concordat with the 
Pope in 1869, whereby the Catholic Church undertook mis- 
sion work on the island, is the only spiritual assistance of 
any kind it has received. It is true that occasional mis- 
sionaries have attempted work upon the island. Various 
denominations have labored in the same field without 
clashing or without friction with one another, and the 
government has continually endeavored to increase their 
membership. 

The Eoman Catholic Church, although the established 
religion, has never been popular. Among the lower class 
the influence of voodooism and the fanatical opposition of 
the Catholic priesthood to Freemasonry, which is a strong 
influence, have combined to prevent the church from gain- 
ing either the confidence or affection of the nation. Even 
over women the priests exercise less influence than in 



268 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

other countries. The Catholic priests, who are j)aid hj 
the state, are comparatively few in number, and dislike 
heartily the life in the interior. The republic is divided 
into five dioceses, and there are one hundred and ten 
priests. There are, however, only eighty-four parishes, 
although there are chapels in many places where services 
are occasionally held. 

Eeligious toleration in other countries came after long 
struggles between different denominations. Haiti is an 
exception to all such precedents, inasmuch as without 
possessing, so far as is known, a single Protestant citizen, 
and certainly without one Protestant church or even one 
Protestant meeting ever having been held there, she boldly 
proclaimed religious freedom and her independence at the 
same time. 

From the date of independence until 1869, while the 
Catholic religion had never ceased to be fostered by the 
state or to be professed by the Haitian citizens, the eccle- 
siastical system remained in a semidisorganized state, and 
the church lost the affection and respect of the people. In 
1869 President Jeffrad concluded a concordat with the 
Holy See, agreeing to pay a rehabilitated priesthood from 
the treasury of the state and to furnish it with suitable 
residences. Soon afterward the church was put on a 
regular footing, which has since been sustained. In the 
hope of raising up a native priesthood, and in order that 
there might always be at hand priests especially prepared 
for the work in Haiti, the church established at Paris the 
Grand Seminary of Haiti, which is still maintained. There 
is an Episcopal bishop, but he receives little pecuniary 
support, and the Protestant population does not number 
four thousand souls. The Haitians are devoted to Free- 
masonry, and love to surround the funerals of their breth- 
ren with all the pomp of the order. 

The government of Haiti has always manifested a com- 
mendable concern for the education of the youth of the 
country, and to that end has never ceased to encourage 



THE REPUBLIC OF HAITI 269 

the establishment of schools. There has been a steady 
tendency toward increased educational facilities at public 
expense. It is believed that no less than five thousand 
Haitian girls are being educated under the care of the 
sisters of the Roman Church. There are four hundred 
national schools, besides private schools and five lycees. 
Elementary education is free, the country being divided 
into fourteen inspectors' districts, and nearly one million 
dollars allotted annually. In 1876 there were four lycees, 
six superior girls' schools, five secondary schools, one hun- 
dred and sixty-five primary schools, two hundred rural 
schools, one school of medicine, and one of music, with a 
total of twenty thousand pupils. The Sisters of Charity 
and Christian Brothers have schools in Port-au-Prince. 

The unit of money on the island is the gourde, or dollar, 
the nominal value of which is that of the American dol- 
lar, but this so fluctuates that the annual average may be 
seventeen per cent, premium on the American dollar. The 
revenue of Haiti is derived exclusively from customs paid 
in American gold on exports, and in currency gourdes on 
imports. The external debt of 1887 was $13,476,113, and 
the internal debt about the same. 

The imports of Haiti in 1895 were $6,232,335, and the 
exports $13,788,562, showing a heavy balance of trade in 
favor of the island. The exports consist chiefly of coffee, 
€Ocoa, and logwood. In 1895 the quantities exported were 
as follows: coffee, 75,371,865 pounds; cocoa, 2,291,548 
pounds ; logwood, 138,042,053 pounds. Other exports are 
cotton, gum, and honey. Of the imports in 1896 the value 
of $4,134,000 came from the United States; $1,340,000 
from France; $304,000 from Germany; $206,000 from 
Great Britain. In 1896, 260 vessels entered at Port-au- 
Prince, 189 at Cape Haitien, and 161 at Aux Cayes. 

It will be seen that, notwithstanding Haiti's political and 
social degradation, it is financially more prosperous than 
the more highly civilized West Indies, excepting Cuba, and 
shows the largest balance of trade. It is also interesting 



/ 



270 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

to US from the fact that it gives our country a proportion- 
ate exchange in trade for our purchases of its products. 

Haiti is in treaty relations with most of the great coun- 
tries of the world, and maintains six legations— at Paris, 
Washington, Berlin, Madrid, London, and San Domingo. 
There are also more than fifty consuls-general, consuls, 
and vice-consuls, stationed at as many different ports in 
the United States, on the Isthmus of Panama, in the An- 
tilles, Europe, and elsewhere. The island's diplomatic 
representatives have always acquitted themselves credi- 
tably, and each of them speaks the language of the country 
to which he is accredited. Mr. Stephen Preston was the 
Haitian minister at Washington continuously for nearly 
twenty years, and during a third of that time he was the 
dean of the diplomatic corps. As far as the general public 
knows, there are pending between other governments and 
Haiti no questions of sufficient importance to affect her 
dignity, menace her autonomy, or interfere with the free 
working of the ordinary machinery for administering her 
internal affairs. 

It may be stated that, in the long run and in her own 
way, Haiti always meets every financial obligation ; and it 
is an acknowledged fact that she has sometimes consented 
to pay, and has paid, claims which no great powers like 
France or Great Britain would have been expected to rec- 
ognize, taking this course in order to avoid what seemed 
at the moment possible complications with foreign powers, 
which have appeared to be only too ready to take advan- 
tage of her comparative isolation and weakness. 

By far the most important agricultural product of Haiti 
is coffee ; indeed, so important is this that the prosperity 
of the country is measured by it from year to jear. The 
plant flourishes everywhere in the uplands above three 
hundred feet. The quality is most excellent, but owing to 
the imperfect and indifferent way in which, until within a 
few years, it was gathered and prepared, it has never be- 
come a favorite in the United States, and most of it finds 



THE EEPUBLIC OF HAITI 271 

its way to France and Belgium for consumption. A good 
crop for export is set down at seventy million pounds. 

Logwood is second in importance to coffee. It is con- 
sidered to be of the best quality. The amount of it exported 
annually depends on the energy of the people in cutting 
it. The average yearly exportation is about 178,000,000 
pounds. 

Cocoa comes in as a sort of adjunct to coffee. While it 
is found in several localities, it cannot be said to flourish 
and abound. The bulk of it is grown on the western half 
of the Tiburon peninsula. 

Cotton also, a product not usually found in the West 
Indies, is grown in Haiti. During the Civil War as much 
as four and a half million pounds was grown ; but with the 
fall in price the product w;as reduced to less than one and 
a half million pounds for export in 1892. It grows with 
extraordinary facility, requiring no culture whatever. It 
does not grow on bushes, but on trees, which last several 
years and produce two crops annually. It is of a fine silky 
quality, and its culture might be made exceedingly profit- 
able, as no country in the world is better adapted to its 
growth. 

Besides the logwood, other woods are regularly exported, 
including mahogany, lignum-vitse, bois-jaune (West Indian 
sandalwood), and bayarondes. Mahogany is the most im- 
portant of these and is of excellent quality. There has 
been a marked falling off of this exportation since 1867, 
due largely to the fact of the exhaustion of available mate- 
rial within the limits of profitable transportation to the sea- 
board. 

It must be confessed that the products of Haiti are 
chiefly those which require little human toil, and that its 
agricultural possibilities are hardly drawn upon. Coffee 
is, in fact, the only cultivated crop of importance, and 
even many of the coffee-trees are self -propagated. The 
blacks upon attaining their freedom permitted the island 
to return to its primeval state. In colonial times the island 



272 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

produced nearly two million English pounds of sugar, 
valued at $25,000,000, besides valuable crops of indigo and 
more coffee than is now exported. Under favorable con- 
ditions the capacity of the island for production is almost 
incalculable. There is no article produced in the tropics 
that is not found or that could not be raised in Haiti with 
profit. It would seem that almost anything could be 
grown either in the uplands or the lowlands of this beau- 
tiful country. Even j)iiieapples, peaches, strawberries, 
blackberries, and other fruits are found in the uplands. 
Those who have watched the rise and remarkable growth 
of the export of fruits from the neighboring island of 
Jamaica within the past few years, and who have any 
knowledge of the fertility of the soil of Haiti, assert that 
no argument need be used to show that under reasonably 
favorable conditions the exportation of fruit could easily 
be made profitable. Oranges (sweet and sour), citrons, 
plantains, bananas, lemons, shaddocks, pineapples, cocoa- 
nuts, mangos, artichokes, alligator-pears, sapodillas, and 
the like abound. It is said that mango is so common that 
during the height of its season, from May to June, the sale 
of breadstuff s falls off as much as fifty per cent. 

Absolutely nothing is known of the geological and 
mineral resources of Haiti, although gold, platinum, silver, 
copper, iron ore, tin, manganese, antimony, sulphur, rock- 
salt, bitumen, asphaltum, and phosphates exist, some of 
them in quantities. Mining interests have hitherto been 
entirely neglected, and there are no laws on the subject in 
the country. It has been the policy of the government 
not to encourage enterprises that might tend to prostrate 
or impair the agricultural spirit and industry of the people. 

Communication in Haiti, where there are thirty-one 
post-offices, is jnaintained entirely by overland roads and 
coasting-vessels. Most of the highways are notoriously 
bad, especially those leading from the central valley over 
the mountains to the northern and southern coasts. The 
roads in the interior are, in most cases, little more than 




CATHEDRAL 




STREET SCENE 



STREET SCENE 



PORT-AU-PEINCE, HAITI 



THE EEPUBLIC OF HAITI 273 

mule-paths. This is due partly to neglect and partly to 
topographical conditions which expose them to the de- 
structive influences of torrential rains. In the time of the 
French occupation many of them were kept in excellent 
condition, and as late as the empire of Soulouque, car- 
riages and other vehicles could be freely used through quite 
a number of localities where vehicular transportation is 
not now practicable. The fact that the republic once had 
good roads, and that in the island of Martinique, where the 
conditions for maintaining them are quite as difficult as in 
Haiti, French engineering has established and maintains 
the best of highways, proves the possibilities in this respect 
of the latter country. The present government appears to 
be alive to the necessity of better transportation facilities. 

A coast service, maintained since 1863, is carried on by 
four steamers. These are aided by the government, and 
their regular trips are so arranged that they cover the 
whole extent of the Haitian coast every ten days, taking 
passengers and mails, and touching regula,rly at no less 
than twenty-six ports. The northern route covers two 
hundred and forty and the southern three hundred and 
fifteen miles of the coast. 

The foreign communication is excellent, the country 
being visited by more lines of foreign steamers than 
any other West Indian island. Haiti has regular com- 
munication with New York by the Atlas Steamship 
Company and the Royal Dutch West India Mail Service 
Company, and the William P. Clyde & Company line. The 
Eoyal Mail Steamship Company's steamers call every sec- 
ond week at Jacmel, affording connection with the Lesser 
Antilles and England. The Compagnie Grenerale Trans- 
atlantique's steamers, sailing from Havre and Bordeaux 
to Vera Cruz, stop at Cape Haitien on the 7th, and at 
Port-au-Prince on the 8th of each month, and on their 
homeward run touch at those ports on the 27tli of each 
month. This company also has an annex steamer which, 
starting from Fort-de-France, calls once or twice a month 



274 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

at Jacmel, Port-au-Prince, Petit Goave, Jeremie, Aux 
Cayes, and numerous other places in the West Indies. 
The Spanish Royal Mail steamer calls at Port-au-Prince en 
route to Cuba, Mexico, the United States, and Europe. 
The Havana coasting-steamers between Havana and San- 
tiago de Cuba and Porto Eico also call at Port-au-Prince. 
Connection is had with Germany hj the Hamburg Mail 
Steamship Company. 

Haiti has numerous ports along its extensive littoral, 
eleven of which are open to foreign commerce. Each of 
these eleven ports, the principal of which will be described 
later, is an outlet to a comparatively large, populous, and 
productive country lying back of it. Generally the exports 
and imports reach far beyond what one might be led to 
expect if guided by the appearance and size of the ports 
themselves. Competent authorities have observed that 
the volume of lousiness done at Port-au-Prince is as great 
as that of any other city of its size in the world. These 
seaports imjDress the visitor unfavorably, because he finds 
there very little of the aspect of neatness and prosperity 
which characterizes the other cities and towns of the An- 
tilles. The wharves are dilapidated; the port service is 
slow and inefficient; the streets and sidewalks are poorly 
kept; the stores and dwellings have an irregular look; 
hotels are scarce and poor ; the streets are not lighted, and 
the roads leading into and throughout the interior are in 
a very bad condition. 

Besides the eleven ports fully ojDen to foreign com- 
merce, there are four at which vessels are j)ermitted to 
take cargo, but not formally to enter from or clear for the 
high seas. They are Fort Liberte, on the northern coast, 
east of Cape Haitien; Mole St. Nicolas, at the north- 
western extremit)'^ of the island ; Anse d'Hainault, which 
was once an open port, at the end of the western penin- 
sula ; and Port-a-Piment, between Cape Tiburon and Aux 
Cayes. 

There are also at least twenty other small ports not open 



the' EEPUBLIC OF HAITI 275 

to foreign trade, mostly in the south and west, which afford 
fairly safe approach and anchorage to vessels, and all of 
which contribute more or less to the coasting-trade. 

The principal coastal cities, beginning on the north 
side, are Cape Haitien, Port de Paix, Gonaives, Port-au- 
Prince, Petit Goave, Miragoane, Jeremie, Aux Cayes, and 
Jacmel. 

Cape Haitien, or, as it is universally called in Haiti, " the 
Cape," on the northern coast, is the most picturesque town 
in the republic. It is beautifully situated on a commodious 
harbor having a narrow entrance, which could be most 
easily defended. This town is the second in size and im- 
portance in the republic, and is by many considered the 
most picturesque city in the island; it is situated at the 
foot of a hill which slopes gradually to the sea, and is 
hemmed in on three sides by mountains. Its population 
is estimated at twenty-nine thousand, but this undoubtedly 
includes the people of the adjacent commune. Under the 
rule of the French, it was the gay capital of the colony, 
and its wealth and splendors and luxury gained for it the 
name "Little Paris," or the "Paris of Haiti." It was also 
the capital of black King Henri's dominions. It was beau- 
tifully laid out, and built on the plan of some of the older 
European cities, with the rigoles, or gutters, in the middle 
of the streets. The Cape is further noted as having been 
the scene of a terrible earthquake in 1842, when, in an 
instant, it was nearly all thrown into ruins, and several 
thousand inhabitants perished. Sir Spenser St. John says 
that to this day the country people talk of that awful 
event, and never forget to relate how they rushed in to 
plunder the place, and none lent a helping hand to aid the 
half -buried citizens. It has also suffered from a bombard- 
ment by the British (in 1865), from civil commotions and 
disastrous fires. 

In spite of all these misfortunes, and in spite, too, of the 
fact, striking to the new visitor, that many of the fine 
buildings thrown down by the great earthquake have 



276 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

never yet been rebuilt, the Cape is to-day the center, so to 
speak, of a remarkably thriving and prosperous district, of 
large and increasing business interests, promising well for 
the future. Here, as at other ports facing the sea to the 
north, the trade- winds come over the cool blue waters, and 
the tropical heats are greatly modified. This city is the 
terminus of the French line of oceanic cable leading directly 
to New York, Cuba, and Jamaica. 

Commercially contributing towns and communes are La 
Plaine du Nord (population 5000), L'Acul du Nord (10,000), 
and Milot (6000). Near Milot are still to be seen the truly 
imposing ruins of Christophe's palace of Sans Souci, and 
not far off those of his wonderful citadel. La Ferriere, which 
from its mountain height overlooked and commanded the 
commune. It is of the most solid masonry, every stone of 
which is said to have cost a human life, and covers the whole 
peak of the mountain. Some of the walls were eighty feet in 
height and sixteen feet in thickness. Years of labor were 
spent to build this citadel, which was destroyed in a few 
minutes by an earthquake. 

The nortliern province is noted for its fertility, abun- 
dance of rain, numerous rivers, and the superior intelligence 
and industry of its inhabitants. 

Port de Paix, named by Columbus Valparaiso (" Valley of 
Paradise"), is several hours' sail westward from Cape Hai- 
tien, about midway between that city and Mole St. Nicolas. 
It is a town of ten thousand inhabitants, and is noted as the 
last point evacuated by the French in December, 1803. It 
is well situated at the mouth of Les Trois-Ri\deres, facing 
the famous lie de la Tortue, and is considered healthful. 
It has a good harbor in front, and a fine, rich country 
behind it. Near it, a little to the south of east, is the im- 
portant town of St. Louis du Nord, in a commune which 
has a population of sixteen thousand. There are at pres- 
ent on foot propositions and projects looking to the con- 
struction of a railway from Port de Paix southward through 
the valley of the Trois-Rivieres, which is a considerable 



THE REPUBLIC OF HAITI 277 

stream, to Gros Morne, a commune of twenty-two thousand 
inhabitants, there to connect by an offshoot with a road 
projected to run through the great central plain of the 
Artibonite. 

To the west of Cape Haitien, at the northwest end of the 
Nicolas peninsula, is Mole St. Nicolas, the place where 
Europeans first landed. This superb harbor, called the 
Gibraltar of the New World, remained almost unsettled 
until 1764, but has been successively peopled by French, 
German, and English, and at different times immense sums 
of money have been spent on its forts and walls, now dis- 
mantled and ruined. The bay makes a fine picture from 
the sea, and ships of the largest size can ride out the gales 
with safety. This is the most important place at the 
Haitian end of the island, commanding as it does the 
Windward Channel between Haiti and Cuba. The western 
coast is sterile and barren, the shores rising in level plains 
or terraces called platforms, similar to those of eastern 
Cuba. 

Gonaives, which is considered more purely a Haitian 
town than any other on the seaboard, because its founda- 
tion and origin were less due to the French colonists, is 
situated opposite Port de Paix, on the southern side of the 
northern peninsula. It is reached from Port de Paix by a 
few hours' sail, going first westward to the Mole St. Nico- 
las, and thence sailing to the east again. The commune 
has a population of eighteen thousand, and the town is one 
of the most thriving in the republic ; it is considered health- 
ful, though situated in the midst of a sandy, salty region. 
In spite of the fact that it has more than once been dev- 
astated by revolutions and fires, it still has an important 
foreign commerce. It was from this port that Toussaint 
L'Ouverture was embarked as a captive during a night in 
June, 1802, on board the French frigate La Creole^ and it 
was here, too, that Dessalines issued the declaration of 
Haitian independence, January 1, 1804. Within its dis- 
trict in the interior are the communes of Terre Neuve 



\ 



278 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

(population 6000), Gros Morne (22,000), and Enneiy (6000), 
the cherished residence of Toussaint, all rich and produc- 
tive centers of population. 

St. Marc is situated about half-way between Gonaives 
and Port-au-Prince, on a horseshoe-shaped bay whose 
waters are very deep, and at one extremity of the great 
plain of the Artibonite, Gonaives being at the other ex- 
tremity. The Artibonite River, the largest in Haiti, flows 
into the bay between the two cities. This plain faces along 
the coast for a distance of about fifty miles, and stretches 
back into the interior for fully sixty miles. It is noted for 
its great fertility and richness in every tropical production, 
in which respect it has hardly a superior. There are now 
on hand projects, pretty well matured, for running a rail- 
way through it. 

St. Marc was formerly built almost entirely of stone, but 
the structures of that material have gradually given place 
to others of wood. It is a town of commercial importance, 
the population of the commune being estimated at twenty 
thousand. The largest place behind it and within easy 
reach is Verrettes (communal population 12,000). 

Port-au-Prince, the capital, is situated at the extreme 
eastern end of the deep indentation of the Gulf of Gonaives. 
The ground slopes most gracefully to the water's edge. 
The streets, carefully laid out at right angles to one another 
by the original French settlers, are broad, but utterly neg- 
lected. Every one throws his garbage out of the front 
door, and heaps of manure, broken bottles and crockery, 
and every species of rubbish abound. The topographic 
position of the city, with its environs of mountains and 
plains, is very beautiful. It contains about sixty thousand 
inhabitants, and possesses every natural advantage that a 
capital could require. Little use, however, is made of 
these advantages, and the place is unpleasant, owing to 
the lack of sanitation. 

The national palace (of wood), the quartiers ministeres 
(the offices of the several departments of the government), 



/ 



THE EEPUBLIC OF HAITI 279 

some of the buildings devoted to commerce, to religious 
worship, and to schools, the national foundry, and other 
edifices, would be regarded as creditable to any country. 
Most of the other buildings are strikingly shabby. There 
are many small cottages and huts by the side of the few 
decent-looking dwellings. The larger number of poorly 
constructed houses are made of wood imported from the 
United States. The church is a large wooden building 
disfigured by numerous wretched paintings, in which the 
Saviour is occasionally represented as an ill-drawn negro. 
It is said that there are more than a thousand "busses" 
(cabs) licensed to carry passengers in the city, at twenty 
cents a " course " (ride from one place to another without 
stopping) within the city limits. It is well, however, for 
the stranger to make a strict bargain with his driver be- 
fore going one rod beyond those limits. 

Port-au-Prince is well supplied with pure water brought 
from the mountain-side in its rear. With its unstable 
government (which pays no attention to sanitation) and 
its great heat, this city ought to be the most unhealthful 
place in the tropics, but it is not so. In a few of the more 
commercial streets where foreigners reside, attention is paid 
to cleanliness, but the remainder of the city is foul-smelling 
and dirty. The most common diseases are bilious and 
malarial fevers. Yellow fever is exotic in Haiti, being 
always brought from abroad. Fevers of a typhoid type 
are rare. Pulmonary diseases prevail among the natives. 
Indeed, Haiti would be an excellent resort for persons 
aflicted with certain diseases, and is freer from epidemics 
than most other tropical countries. Cholera has never ap- 
peared there, although smallpox and yellow fever fre- 
quently break out. Physicians of Port-au-Prince say that 
Haiti is more healthful than any other island in the An- 
tilles. Furthermore, its environment of high mountains, 
cutting off the trade-winds, is such as to make it the hot- 
test place in the island ; but, in spite of all that has been 
said and written to the contrary, it is not now regarded as 



280 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

unhealtMul for foreigners. Some of its immediate en- 
virons, such as Turgeau,— which, covered with commodious 
residences of the wealthy, is on the hillside behind the 
large and beautiful Champ de Mars, on which are two well- 
kept hotels, Martissant and Bisotou,— overlook the bay to 
the right of the capital, and are about four or five miles 
from it. The great and important plain of the cul-de-sac, 
in which are situated the considerable villages Drouillard 
and Croix des Bouquets, are quite charming. A favorite 
place for foreigners to visit is Furey, which is part of a 
day's ride, passing Kenskoff up the mountain from Petion- 
ville. The elevation is probably not far from six thousand 
feet at this place, and to one accustomed to the heats of 
the capital the temperature seems absolutely chilly, though 
the lowest recorded temperature is only 45° F. 

Scattered here and there through the cul-de-sac, and run- 
ning up to the mountain-sides on its borders, are large plan- 
tations under cultivation. In some instances these form 
communities by themselves, the laborers on each of them 
generally working on shares, and having schools for their 
children, and a chapel for religious worship on Sundays. 

Port-au-Prince was nearly destroyed by an earthquake 
in 1770. The curse of the city is fire ; immense conflagra- 
tions have been frequent, sometimes destroying as many 
as five hundred houses at a time. It has been estimated 
that the equivalent of the whole city at any one time has 
been destroyed in the course of every twenty-five years by 
conflagration. It is not, however, probable that this wiU 
be the case hereafter, because of the present plentiful sup- 
ply of water, the introduction of suitable means for com- 
bating fires, and the tendency to erect fire-proof buildings 
rather than those of wood. 

Amid all vicissitudes Port-au-Prince has maintained its 
relative commercial importance, although the beautiful 
port is being gradually fiUed up by the refuse of the city 
and the silt of the adjacent mountains, and no effort is 
made to preserve or improve it. 



THE EEPUBLIC OF HAITI 281 

Petit Groave stands facing an excellent bay, only a few 
leagues to the westward of the capital. The population of 
the commune is estimated at twenty-five thousand. Not 
far to the southeast of it is the lake called Etang Duricie, 
which is filled with fish and turtles, and is frequented by 
wild ducks and other water-birds. In the town itself is a 
considerable establishment for hulling and preparing coffee. 

Miragoane, still farther westward, was formerly a port 
of fair importance ; but the town itself was nearly destroyed 
and its commerce ruined by the Bazelais' attempt at revo- 
lution in 1883-84. Its communal population is set down 
at eighteen thousand. 

Jeremie, the birthplace of the elder Dumas, lies to the 
west of Miragoane, on the northern coast of the western 
peninsula of the island, and is noted for its export of cocoa. 
It is a prosperous and thriving place, and its population is 
estimated at thirty-five thousand. It stands or faces on a 
bay whose waters are often so turbulent as to render land- 
ing difficult. 

Aux Cayes, about midway on the Caribbean side of the 
Tiburon peninsula, was formerly the most populous and 
thriving city in the south of the republic. From J6remie 
it is reached by sailing first westward to Cape Dame Marie, 
then turning south round the end of the peninsula, passing 
Cape Tiburon, and finally proceeding east along the south- 
ern coast. It has a commune population estimated at 
twenty- five thousand, an important foreign commerce, and 
a variety of domestic industries. A small stream running 
through it, called La Eavine du Sud, sometimes inundates 
parts of the city in the rainy seasons. The government 
has recently entered upon measures to correct this evil and 
to improve the harbor. 

Aquin is a smaller town lying only a few miles farther 
east than Aux Cayes, but the population of the city and 
commune is given as twenty thousand. From its ports 
are shipped large quantities of dyewoods. 

Jacmel, situated on the southern coast, farther east than 



282 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

Aquin, is an interesting and prosperous place. M. Fortu- 
nate estimates the population at fifty thousand, but in this, 
as in other instances, he undoubtedly includes the whole 
outlying commune. The city stands at the extremity of a 
bay whose waters are very frequently boisterous. The 
steamers of the English Royal Mail line touch here, both 
on their outward and homeward voyages. The journey 
from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel overland is by mule-paths 
through and over precipitous mountain passes, and between 
the two cities there is a very winding stream which it is 
necessary to ford an astonishing number of times, and 
which, in the rainy season, makes the journey rather dis- 
agreeable. Couriers, however, are constantly passing from 
one city to the other. 

In the interior are a number of other considerable and 
populous towns. They are mostly to the north and east 
of the capital, though there are some on the western pe- 
ninsula, the largest of the latter being Leogane (30,000). 
The most populous of the interior towns is Mirebalais 
(25,000), about fifteen leagues northeast of Port-au-Prince. 
Then there are, in the northern half of the interior, G-ros 
Morne (22,000), Plaisance (25,000), Grande Eiviere du Nord 
(22,000), Limbe (16,000), Frou (10,000), Dondon (12,000), 
Jean Rabel (9000) ; and to the east of Mirebalais, Las Caho- 
bas (12,000). In the plain of the cul-de-sac is La Croix 
des Bouquets (20,000), and five or six miles up the moun- 
tain-side, near the capital, is the charming summer resort 
Petionville (15,000). These figures represent communal 
populations. 

Although these towns and communes, and others not 
here mentioned, do not always present the well-regulated, 
pleasing aspect of the cities and towns of the United States 
or Europe, they nevertheless do suggest important possi- 
bilities in the future. 

The people of Haiti are almost entirely of African de- 
scent, with a few of the mulatto or colored class. The 
comparatively few whites engaged in business or diplo- 



THE REPUBLIC OF HAITI 283 

matic affairs are transients. The fact that the country is a 
black republic, where emancipated people of this color are 
trying to work out their own destiny, makes it especially 
interesting. It is estimated that nine tenths of the people 
are black and one tenth colored, and that the latter are 
gradually more and more approaching the black type. 

Judged by the standards of the more advanced white 
races, the Haitians are very backward ; but compared with 
other purely negro countries it must be admitted that they 
are far above their race in general. Sir Spenser St. John, 
the present British minister to Mexico, who for over twenty 
years resided at Port-au-Prince, has described the Haitians 
from the point of view of a well-bred Englishman.^ He 
pictures the country and the people in a state of rapid 
decadence, and sees no future for them. His descriptions 
of the voodoo ^ rites, cannibalism, and general social degra- 
dation of the people, are indeed appalling, and after read- 
ing them, one unacquainted with the history and ethnology 
of the African races would conclude that Haiti is forever 
lost ; but his conclusions are not borne out by history, and 
the Haitians, instead of degenerating, are, excepting the 
Cubans, Porto Ricans, and Barbadians, the only virile and 
advancing natives of the West Indies. 

No exact details concerning the vital statistics are ob- 
tainable, and all statements are necessarily estimates. It 
is thought that no full and accurate census has been taken 
since 1791. General Jeffrad, who was president from 1859 
to 1866, endeavored to enumerate the population, but went 
only f4r enough to establish the fact that the footing up 
would show considerably less than a million. Lately the 
Roman Catholic clergy have taken a fragmentary census 
for their own purposes. Their figures show the present 
population to be somewhat more than a million. 

1 "Hayti ; or, The Black Eepublie." By Sir Spenser St. John, formerly her 
Majesty's minister resident and consul-general in Hayti ; now her Majesty's 
special envoy to Mexico (London, 1884). 

2 ' ' Vaudoux " is the proper form of this word, ' ' voodoo " being an American 
corruption of the same. 



284 CUBA AND POKTO RICO 

Undoubtedly the inhabitants of Haiti were reduced nearly 
one half by the terrible wars of the revolution. During 
the struggle all of the whites were either driven out of the 
country or killed, and some slaves were exported to Cuba 
and the United States. The prolific negro race has re- 
couped its losses, however, and the population is rapidly 
increasing. St. John concludes, after investigating all 
possible sources of information, that the population has 
probably doubled since 1825, notwithstanding the careless- 
ness of the negro mothers. 

The colored people generally reside in the towns, and are 
a vanishing class. A marked line is drawn against them 
by the blacks, owing to historic alinement of these two 
classes. In past political conflicts the mulattos have been 
usually defeated, and most of them have since segregated 
in the eastern or San Domingo end of the island. The 
black hates the mulatto, the mulatto despises the black, 
and the whites have a contempt for both. As a race, the 
mulattos who remain have been described as hating their 
fathers and despising their mothers. In personal appear- 
ance the Haitian mulattos are what might be expected 
from a mixture of a plain race of Europeans with the 
homeliest of Africans. They are quite different in type 
from the Spanish mulattos of Cuba, San Domingo, and 
Porto Rico, or the beautiful mulattos of the French 
islands. The women are rarely good-looking and never 
beautiful ; as they approach the white type they have long, 
coarse hair, pretty teeth, small hands, and delicate forms, 
but their voices, noses, skins, and lower jaws are defective. 
A pretty girl is the exception. 

At the beginning of the revolution the half-breeds con- 
stituted less than one tenth of the whole population, and 
the wars all tended to increase the disparity in favor of 
the blacks, who formed the vast majority. Hence, since the 
white element has almost been eliminated, the crossing 
necessarily resulted in the gradual exclusion of the half- 
breed type by the full-blooded negro. 



THE EEPUBLIC OF HAITI 285 

In features the black Haitians vary greatly, owing to the 
variations between the African tribes from which they are 
descended. Some of the men are tall, with fine open 
countenances, while others are low in mien and physique. 
Reclus has noted that if the complexions are mostly very 
dark, the new environment has remodeled the features, 
which have become largely assimilated to the European 
type ; African features, such as those of the Wolof s and 
Serers, are seldom met. Though they have not developed 
a homogeneous type, as have the natives of Jamaica, Bar- 
bados, and Martinique, even St. John admits that as a rule 
they are far advanced above the African type. There are 
still many negroes in Haiti who were born in Africa, prin- 
cipally the last cargoes of slaves captured by English 
cruisers and turned loose among their brethren. 

The numerically preponderating and dominant blacks 
are of many degrees of advancement, ranging from prime- 
val Africans, almost unacquainted with the Caucasian race 
or habits, who inhabit the back districts, especially of the 
southern peninsula, to men and women who have been 
highly educated in Paris. Among these are some of pol- 
ished manners and cultivated minds ; but even these, when 
they attain power, are inclined to prove themselves vision- 
ary and less capable in the administration of public affairs 
than white men. 

It is the general impression that the female sex greatly 
preponderates among the Haitian negroes. Some estimate 
the proportion as high as two to one ; others say there are 
three women to one man. St. John estimates that the 
women constitute three fifths of the population. There is 
no migration to account for the disproportion of sexes, 
the movement of population having been toward, instead 
of away from, the island. In colonial times the males 
outnumbered the females, but the numerous wars are sup- 
posed to have largely exterminated the former. 

The language of Haiti is French, which is spoken and 
written in its purity by the educated. Indeed, it is a say- 



286 CUBA AND POKTO RICO 

iiig in Paris that the Haitians are the only foreign people 
who speak French without an alien accent. This is not 
surprising, because it is quite the rule for the wealthy and 
well-to-do citizens to send their sons and daughters to 
France for their education. This class is debarred from 
the United States by our prejudice against their color. 
The lower classes speak a Creole patois which almost de- 
serves rank as a seiDarate language, being to the French 
what the Jamaican dialect is to the English. As in Jamaica, 
this peculiar dialect abounds in proverbs and quaint say- 
ings. 

In their personal traits the Haitians are like the negro race 
wherever found. They are distinguished for their boast- 
fulness— a habit inherited from both the French and the 
negro. They are also given to strong drink and licentious- 
ness. They pride themselves on their proficiency in dan- 
cing and their ear for music. They have fair military bands 
in the cities, but throughout the island the favorite instru- 
ment is the African tom-tom. In the country the old 
African dances are still engaged in, including the sensuous 
bamboula. Wakes are held for the dead, and burials in the 
country are of a very primitive nature. Like other negroes, 
the Haitians have a curious habit of talking to themselves. 
One is often surprised to hear in the bushes along the road- 
side an apparently extended conversation, which turns out 
to be the monologue of a solitary darky. 

The black man in his family relations is generally kind, 
although few of the lower orders go through any civil or 
religious marriage ceremony. In the interior, polygamy 
is common, and a patriarch may be frequently seen sitting 
at the door of a house surrounded by huts in which his 
younger wives reside. Though generally fond of their 
children, they neglect them to an extent that accounts 
largely for the high death-rate among the young. Toward 
the white man the black is usually respectful and cordial. 
The politeness of the countr}'- negro is remarkable, and you 
hear one ragged fellow addressing another as " Monsieur 



THE EEPUBLIC OF HAITI 287 

Frere" or " Confrere." The town negro is less well-mannered 
than the peasant. The countrywomen are kind, bright, 
intelligent, with, a natural dignity and refinement quite 
surprising in people of their habits and situation. The 
young people can read and write, while several books of 
poetry in Spanish andone or two illustrated French maga- 
zines are found in many of the better homes. 

The negroes of the country, especially in the remote 
districts, preserve nearly all the rites and superstitions of 
their African ancestors, including dances, music, and 
witchcraft. In fact, obiism, that queer survival of Afri- 
can witchcraft in the West Indies, prevails here in its 
most primitive form. It is alleged that it is here secretly 
accompanied by cannibalistic sacrifices, which the strong 
arm of the white race has at least eliminated in the other 
islands and in the United States. St. John has presented 
some terrible pictures of its prevalence in Haiti. 

The conditions which St. John describes are not those 
of retrogradation, but merely the survivals of customs 
which the ancestors of these people brought from Africa. 
Furthermore, others who have lived among them have 
stated that no more honest, cheerful, and hospitable people 
exist than the Haitian peasantry. It is asserted that one 
could travel from end to end of the country with gold coin 
clinking in his pocket at every step, without losing a 
penny's value or a night's free lodging, or incurring thereby 
any personal danger. The great crimes and felonies, such 
as arson, rape, highway robbery, and murder for gain, are 
extremely rare. 

The Haitian negroes have very peculiar names, owing to 
the fact that under the French occupation no slaves could 
be given a name which was used by their masters, so that 
the latter were driven to curious expedients to find appel- 
lations for their dependents, who were called by such 
names as CsBsar, Lord Byron, and Je-crois-en-Dieu. 

The negro as he appears in the large commercial towns 
is quite a different being from the half -wild peasants of the 



288 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

country, altliough the latter probably are morally superior 
to the former, for they have the vn-tues as well as the vices 
of the wild races; although their intercourse with their 
city compatriots has given them a sort of French varnish, 
yet they are merely an African people transplanted from 
the parent country. It may be said to their credit that 
they have shown a wish to acquire little homes from their 
savings, and that they give many signs of a desire to rise 
above their racial debasement. 

After studying the Haitian people, their institutions, 
and the criticisms of others upon them, it is our opinion 
that they represent the most advanced negro government 
in the world, and as crude as they appear to us, and as far 
below the standards of the Caucasian race, they have in 
the face of the bitterest oppression, both from without 
and within, virtually lifted themselves by their boot-straps 
out of the depths of African savagery into at least a crude 
condition of culture, having the outward semblance of civ- 
ilization. Whatever success they have attained has been 
solely by their own unaided efforts. The Christian world, 
which looked with horror on the institution of slavery and 
cried loudly for its abolition, neglected this self-emanci- 
pated people when they most needed its help and aid. 
Although hardly three decades have passed since our 
country was inflamed with sentiments demanding the abo- 
lition of slavery, and eager to alleviate the condition of the 
freedmen, we have extended no aid or sympathy to the 
Haitians, who first lifted the banner of emancipation on 
American soil. Missionaries from our country sail past 
the island for more distant shores ; noble men and women 
go to equatorial Africa to enlighten people far below the 
Haitians in culture, and forces of intelligence which in 
Haiti might overweigh the delicately balanced conditions 
of barbarism and civilization in favor of the latter are 
sent to distant China or India. 

Whatever may be said against the Haitians, it should be 
remembered that these people nearly a century ago initi- 



THE EEPUBLIC OF HAITI 289 

ated the movement which, ending in Brazil in 1889, resulted 
in driving the institution of slavery from the western 
hemisphere. 

The independence of Haiti, accomplished during the 
time when slavery was still upheld with all of its horrors 
in the other West Indies, appeared to the old-school plant- 
ers in the light of an unnatural event. It inspired among 
the slave-owners of all nationalities a feeling of horror. 
The name of Haiti was proscribed on the plantations as be- 
longing to an accursed land, and even to this day the effects 
of this are so far-reaching that in our own country the name 
wrongly signifies all that is evil. Yet this black commu- 
nity, now enjoying political freedom and self-government, 
is alive and growing, and may be counted a potent factor 
in the ultimate destiny of the West Indies. 

Haiti's history did not begin until nearly a century and 
a half after San Domingo had been established by Spain. 
In the early years of the seventeenth century many Span- 
iards, who had made the first skimming of the natural 
resources of the island, left it for the more tempting fields 
of Mexico and South America. The bucaneers — French 
and English— took advantage of their departure and began 
to prey upon the island. The French particularly assailed 
the weaker western end, which was then largely a wilder- 
ness ; they first established stations, then plantations, and 
finally, in 1640, organized these irregular settlements into 
a colony under a governor sent from France. Forty-seven 
years later Spain was forced to acknowledge French sov- 
ereignty over the portion of the island where this parasitic 
hold had been obtained. It is unnecessary to dwell upon 
the colonial history of Haiti previous to the French Revo- 
lution, further than to say that it became what was at that 
time the finest colony in the world. " Historians," it has 
been said, "are never weary of enumerating the amount 
of its products, the great trade, the warehouses filled with 
sugar, cotton, coffee, indigo, and cocoa ; its plains covered 
with splendid estates; its hillsides dotted with noble 

19 



290 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

houses ; a white population, rich, refined, and enjoying hfe 
as only the luxurious French society of the old regime 
could enjoy it." The dark spots, then scarcely noticed^ 
were the immorality of the whites and the ignorant mass of 
black slavery. The plantation slaves were Africans who 
retained every savage trait of their native country, includ- 
ing cannibalism, voodooism, and even in many cases the 
primitive language and dress. The change from Africa to 
Haiti was but slight. The masters whom the negroes found 
in the New World were but little better than those of their 
own race ; the damp forests afforded a natural environment 
very similar to that from which they were drawn; they 
continued to live in African huts and to eat African foods. 
The French masters practised, under a guise of civilization,, 
all the cruelties of the African kings whom these people 
had served at home. Their system of slavery was unsur- 
passed for severity, subtle cruelty, lasciviousness, and 
ferocity. Its contrast with the Spanish system in opera- 
tion in the San Domingo half of the island, where negro 
slavery existed in a form robbed of half of its terrors, was 
marked. 

The ancient regime also produced a third distinct set of 
people in Haiti. Miscegenation, openly and boastfully 
practised, resulted in a large number of mulattos, or colored 
people. These became numerically important with the 
passing years, and occupied a peculiar position. Although 
they mostly became f reedmen, they were looked down upon 
by their white relatives, treated with hatred and contempt,, 
and granted no civil status ; and they were hated by the 
pure blacks. Thus society in Haiti from 1700 to 1776 pre- 
sented an outward aspect of untold prosperity, but inwardly 
was composed of elements which, when fired by the Revo- 
lution in France, were bound to clash with a force com- 
bining the ferocity of the French revolutionists and the 
savagery of African warfare. 

The latent spark was kindled in a peculiar way. When 
our American colonies revolted against England, the 



THE EEPUBLIC OF HAITI 291 

French commanders who were our alKes enlisted the free 
blacks and mulattos of Haiti, who, according to the English 
writers, did good service in our War of the Eevolution, but 
when they returned to their own country spread a spirit 
of disaffection which no ordinances could destroy. Thus it 
was that " the spirit of '76 " kindled the fires which led to 
the Haitian revolution. 

Furthermore, in France, about this time, there were 
organized societies known as " The Friends of the Blacks," 
exactly similar to the abolitionist party of the Northern 
United States prior to the Civil War. These people, moved 
by a spirit of philanthropy, but ignorant of the laws of 
sociology, increased the discontent and fanned race hatred 
among the blacks of Haiti. The whites at this time, who 
still controlled Haiti, — the discontent of the black and 
colored population, although apparent, being neither dan- 
gerous nor active,— precipitated the crisis by a local au- 
tonomist movement, very similar to the events which a 
century later caused the Cuban rebellion. They were then 
governed under a colonial system, somewhat analogous to 
that of the Spanish system in Cuba, in which they had no 
voice, and they demanded local self-government. Three 
parties were immediately organized: the white planters, 
demanding a local self-government, constituted the colo- 
nial party; the official classes and their hangers-on, also 
white, stood for the old regime as the loyalist party ; and 
the free blacks and colored people agitated for civil rights, 
which had been withheld from them. No idea of indepen- 
dence of France was contemplated. The large and over- 
whelming mass of black slaves were entirely uninterested 
in these events. Then the explosion began. The planters, 
who had hitherto treated their colored offspring with con- 
tempt, now called upon them for aid, which was freely 
given, but afterward rewarded with insult, which created 
a strong racial hatred between these two elements. The 
French Assembly in 1791 gave the freedmen and colored 
people their civil rights, and in all the subsequent strug- 



292 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

gles they continued loyal to the French government. In 
1794 the black slaves, who had hitherto been contented, 
were given the full liberty, equality, and fraternity of the 
French republic. The white planters meanwhile continued 
in insurrection. Then another element was introduced 
into the strife, which was ultimately to overpower all the 
others. The royalists called upon the black slaves, who 
had formerly been meekly quiescent, to help them subdue 
the planters. Like bloodhounds released from the leash, 
or a firebrand thrown into a heap of tinder, these savages 
rushed into the fray, fighting after the manner of their 
forefathers, killing, burning, ravishing, and destroying. 
Their whole African nature was given freest play, never to 
stop until eventually every white man was murdered or 
driven from Haiti, and the colored class sold as slaves to 
the Spaniards of San Domingo. In vain other nations of 
the world tried to stop the fray. England and Spain each 
sent their forces to subdue the island. Disease helped 
savagery, and the light of medieval civilization went out 
in Haiti. 

We cannot mention half the incidents of this fearful 
struggle, but the terrible cruelty and treachery of the 
whites to the black and colored people of Haiti were hardly 
less savage than the retaliation of the blacks. The infamous 
treatment by the French of Toussaint L'Ouverture, who 
at one time had almost reduced these disloyal elements, is 
one of the darkest pages of human history. " And yet the 
conduct of this black was so remarkable as almost to con- 
found those who declare the negro an inferior creature, 
incapable of rising to genius. History, wearied with 
dwelling on the petty passions of the other founders of 
Haitian independence, may well turn to the one grand 
figure of this cruel war." Born a slave, he acquired only 
enough education to read a little French and Latin, with- 
out mastering the art of writing. When the insurrection 
broke out he remained faithful to his master, and pre- 
vented any destruction on his estate ; but ultimately find- 



THE EEPUBLIC OF HAITI 293 

ing that he could not stem the tide, he sent his master's 
family for safety into Cape Haitien and joined the black 
loyalists. Having a knowledge of simples, he was first 
appointed a surgeon, and later rose to leadership, ever 
trying to direct the course of his unruly subjects into legit- 
imate warfare, and to suppress their savage instincts. He 
protected to the last the lives of the whites, and was even 
honored by the English, whose assistance had been sought 
by France to subdue the fray. " When he once gave his 
word, he never broke it," it was said ; " and he never had 
any prejudice of color." Even St. John says that " he had 
a greatness of mind which was really remarkable." Roume 
described this negro chief as a " philosopher, a legislator, 
a general, and a good citizen." Eainsf ord, an English offi- 
cer, who visited the insurgents disguised as an American, 
was much struck with Toussaint, and says he "was con- 
strained to admire him as a man, a governor, and a gen- 
eral," who "receives a voluntary respect from every 
description of his countrymen, which is more than returned 
by the affability of his behavior and the goodness of his 
heart." 

It should be remembered that this man, a loyal subject 
of France, was fighting for peace and order, and had it not 
been for the venality of the French themselves, whose 
political conditions at home were almost as disturbed as 
in Haiti, he would have restored it. When he had almost 
finished his task and proclaimed union and peace in the 
French colony, pardoning all those who had been led into 
the revolution against him, keeping his word to his ene- 
mies by putting into execution a constitution which was 
a model of liberality, Bonaparte determined to reestablish 
slavery in Haiti, and sent a French army of invasion to 
carry out this most infamous attempt, Rochambeau, who 
led the French troops, shot every prisoner that fell into 
his hands, justifying retaliation by the Haitians. He even 
brought to tha siege two hundred Cuban bloodhounds, that 
were fed on negro flesh, it is said, to make them the more 



294 CUBA AND POBTO RICO 

savage. Tonssaint, ever loyal to the authority of his 
country, treated with the French commander-in-chief and 
retired to his estate, where he was subsequently arrested 
in circumstances of the greatest treachery, bound with 
ropes, and carried prisoner to France. The indignities to 
which he was subjected can hardly be believed as the acts 
of French officers who broke their plighted word. In 
France he was separated from his family and cast into a 
prison, where he died from cold and neglect, the suspicion 
being justified that the close of his illustrious life was in- 
tentionally hastened. 

Thus ended the career of a man of whom the Marquis 
d'Hermonas said that " Grod in this terrestrial globe could 
not commune with a purer spirit." " The one mistake of 
his life appears to have been his refusal, when urged to do 
so by England, to declare the independence of all Haiti. 
Had he accepted the English proposals and entered into a 
treaty with the Americans, it is not likely that Bonaparte 
would have ever attemjDted an expedition against him, and 
the history of Haiti might have been happier." 

With the exile of Toussaint ended the influence of the 
white race in Haiti. A most fearful epidemic of yellow 
fever fell upon the French army and almost annihilated it. 
Forty thousand of them perished in 1802-03. The Haitians 
saw their opportunity, and aroused their countrymen to 
expel the weak remnants of the French army. The foreign 
fleets left Haiti's shores to engage in their. own warfares. 
Rochambeau, pushed by an army of thirty thousand 
blacks, pinched by hunger, and having no hope of rein- 
forcements, surrendered to the English and embarked for 
Europe, leaving an independent country to the victorious 
blacks. 

Thus ended in 1804, after fifteen years of horrible war- 
fare, one of the darkest chapters in the history of the West 
Indies, and colonial Haiti was lost to civilization. The 
Haitian negroes have since been left to work out their own 
destinies. At first they set up an empire after the Napo- 



THE EEPUBLIC OP HAITI 295 

leonic example in France. Then followed monarchies, 
constitutional presidencies, -and even a second empire in 
1849, sometimes accompanied by union with San Domingo. 
In 1843 the revolutionary alliance with San Domingo was 
broken, and since that day the republic of Haiti has con- 
tinued, marked by many revolutions, but gradually becom- 
ing more and more quiet. 

No Haitian of intelligence now thinks it possible to keep 
his country in isolation, or out of line in the onward march 
of the nations. With this opinion prevalent and other 
favorable forces at work, it may be hoped that order and 
development will obtain in Haiti. The tendency of things 
there is clearly against irregular changes of government. 

The Haitian government has made endeavors to increase 
the population by inviting immigration from abroad of 
persons of African origin, especially the negroes of the 
United States. Under the presidency of Gleneral Boyer, in 
1824, thousands of these people settled in different parts 
of the country ; many of them died from the climate ; a few, 
however, became prosperous, and many of their descendants 
are still living, and have preserved the love of the American 
Union and their knowledge of the English language. 

During our Civil War President Jeffrad offered liberal 
terms to negro settlers from the United States. Their 
passages were to be paid, lands placed at their disposal, 
and they were to be housed and cared for during a reason- 
able period, and to be exempt from military service. Freed- 
men were even shipped by our national government from 
Norfolk, but the experiment was a failure. 

As a rule, negroes become attached to the people and 
customs of the first Caucasian lands of their adoption. 
Negroes from the United States, differing from the Haitians 
in speech, religion, and usages, generally keep aloof and can- 
not attach themselves to the French language and entirely 
different habits of the Haitian blacks. During the past 
few years a strong current of blacks has been flowing into 
Haiti from the neighboring islands, including Jamaica. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE BAHAMAS 

General geographic features. Dissimilarity to other West Indian Islands. 
Products and population. Poverty and decadence of the people. 
Varied race character of the blacks. 

HAVINGr described the Great Antilles except the Vir- 
gin Islands, let us now turn to the other islands of 
the West Indies, most of which occur along an immense 
semicircular stretch, over a thousand miles in length, be- 
tween eastern Florida and the mouth of the Orinoco. 
These islands, with the exception of the Virgin group, just 
east of Porto Rico, are entirely different in their physio- 
graphic features and natural resources from the Grreat 
Antilles, and in many cases from one another. 

Before reading individual descriptions of them, it is well 
to take a map and study closely their succession and rela- 
tive position, and endeavor to fix in our minds a prelimi- 
nary classification. The first striking fact is their subdivi- 
sion into two grand groups lying north and south of the 
longitude of the Great Antillean trend. The mere study 
of the map, however, fails to show the great physical 
differences which separate these groups still more dis- 
tinctly. In fact, they differ from one another in every 
aspect— geologic structure, vegetation, productivity, cli- 
mate, and fitness for human habitation. 

The northern group, between Florida and the east end of 

296 




CLIFFS OF ELEUTHERA ISLAND 




WATLINGS ISLAND 




UNITED STATES CONSUL'S HOUSE, NASSAU STREET SCENE, NASSAU 

BAHAMAS 



THE BAHAMAS 297 

Santo Domingo, constitutes the Bahamas. This lies entirely 
within the Atlantic Ocean, having a trend parallel with 
that of the Antilles. The other group, stretching from 
Porto Eico southward, popularly known as the Lesser 
Antilles, lies between the Atlantic and the Caribbean, and 
has no affinities or relations with the Bahamas. 

Few maps give the same title to the southern islands. 
By some they are called collectively the Lesser Antilles, by 
others the Windward Islands; by still others the Carib- 
bees. On English maps the northern half of the chain is 
marked the Leeward Islands and the southern half the 
Windward. For the present let us speak of the whole 
as the Lesser Antilles, reserving for a later page their 
more accurate classification, and first disposing of the 
Bahamas. 

The Bahama group, which stretches through a total dis- 
tance of 780 miles, includes over 690 islands and islets and 
2387 rocks, whose total number can hardly be less than 
3200, and embraces an area of 5600 square miles. The 
aggregate land surface of all these islands is larger than 
that of Porto Rico. In aspect the Bahamas are more like 
the land of our Floridian coast and keys than any of the 
other West Indies, yet they are so entirely unlike the latter 
that the traveler who, after visiting them, imagines that 
he has seen the West Indies is sadly mistaken. 

The Bahamas are not composite lands like the Antilles, 
or volcanic summits like the Caribbees, or even of coral 
reef -rock origin, as many believe ; but all of them, accord- 
ing to the researches of Professor A. Agassiz, are wind- 
blown piles of shell and coral sand,— once much more 
extensive than now, — whose areas have been restricted by 
a general regional subsidence of some three hundred feet, 
so that much of their former surface now occurs as shallow 
banks beneath the water. This sand is not the brown 
silicious material with which we are familiar, but white 
shell-sand, the comminuted particles of shells and corals 
such as still inhabit the waters around these islands, which 



298 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

give to them a glaring -white aspect in the setting of bine 
waters and crystalline atmosphere. 

The islands are merely the exposed tips of a great sub- 
merged ridge, having an outline and configuration which 
would be crudely comparable to the island of Cuba if the 
latter were so submerged that its highest points merely 
reached the surface. In fact, the trend and character of 
this bank are such as to suggest that it might possibly rep- 
resent one of the lost Antilles. The bank is more of a pe- 
ninsula than an island, projecting as it does southeastward 
from the narrow submerged shelf of the Atlantic coast — a 
kind of submarine extension of eastern Florida, as it were. 

The shallow waters around the Bahamas are beautiful. 
Some of the deeper basins, encircled by reefs, are called 
sea-gardens, from the lovely growth of polyps and marine' 
algae which can be seen beneath the water. Crocodiles and 
manatees are also found near some of the shores. 

There are several groups of these islands, the largest of 
which, constituting fully one half the area, and situated to 
the westward, is known as the Grreat Bahama Bank, from 
the vast shallow platform from which it rises above the 
water. This group comprises Andros, the largest of the 
Bahamas, at its northern extremity. Green Key, New 
Providence, Eleuthera, Watlings, and Long islands. To 
the east there are four smaller groups — the Fortune island 
group, the Caicos or Turks island group, and (just north 
of Samana, San Domingo) the Silver and Navidad banks. 
Grreat Inagua, situated near the Windward Passage, oppo- 
site the converging ends of Cuba and Santo Domingo, is a 
kind of outlier to the south of the main chain. 

Some of these islands, like Navidad, Silver, and Mou- 
choir banks, barely reach the surface of the water ; others 
are similar banks which i^roject well above it ; while others 
still are compounds of the two types. 

From the sea the Bahamas appear as low stretches of 
green land bordered by a strip of white beach or surf, with 
here and there a few villages, built of American lumber. 



THE BAHAMAS 299 

Their topography consists of low rounded hills— typical 
sand-dunes, rising to no great height, which are usually 
more rugged and numerous on the leeward side, where low 
bluffs also occur. Some of these bluffs are picturesque, 
with great boulders surrounding them which have been 
cast up by the sea, like the rocks called the Cow and Bull 
on New Providence, and the bluffs of Fortune Island, or 
with low cliffs with circular holes worn through them, like 
the Glass Window of Eleuthera and the Hole in the Wall 
of Great Abaco. 

With the exception of Andros, the Bahamas are all des- 
titute of springs or running waters. Andros has a few 
brooks and marshy streams. As in Yucatan, the rain-water 
collects in underground reservoirs. 

The flora is tropical, but quite different in general assem- 
blage from that of the Antilles, being more closely related 
to that of the American coast. A majority of the islands 
are covered by a stunted growth, largely mangrove. Only 
a few possess forests ; the pine of our southern coast, mixed 
with the tropical mahogany, covers some of the western 
islands. 

Like the Antilles, the Bahamas are almost destitute of 
native mammals. A species of opossum occurs in one of 
the western islands near the American shore. Bird life is 
abundant, however, and the adjacent waters are rich in 
turtles, fishes, and beautiful mollusks. 

Lying as they do in the Gulf Stream at the border of 
the temperate and torrid zones, the climate of the Bahamas 
is agreeable and healthful, but subject to greater extremes 
of heat and cold than the other West Indies. In the win- 
ter months from November to May the temperature varies 
from 60° to 75°, and the remainder of the year, constitut- 
ing the warm season, from 75° to 85°. The general flat- 
ness allows the full benefit of the sea-breezes, which, with 
the ocean views, may be considered the most valuable 
features of these islands. 

The Bahamas are historically interesting because of their 



300 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

association with the first landfall of Columbus, their former 
relation with the American colonies, and the part they 
played as a place of refuge for the Tory emigrants during 
our War of Independence. The aborigines were hunted 
and enslaved during the first century of Spanish conquest, 
being especially desired for the pearl-fisheries of Panama, 
on account of their superior skill as divers. The archi- 
pelago was neglected for over a century, but when the coast 
of Carolina was colonized the islands were regarded as its 
natural dependency, and later became the home of adven- 
turers of all sorts, who lived by wrecking and bucaneering, 
making New Providence their capital. 

The islands were permanently occupied by British troops 
for the first time in 1718, and since then have been under 
the flag of Great Britain. The government, with its seat 
at Nassau, consists of a governor and executive council; 
there is also a legislative council presided over by the 
governor, and a representative assembly of twenty-nine 
members elected by suffrage. So far as law, order, and 
educational opportunities are concerned, the administra- 
tion has the usual excellence of British colonial govern- 
ment, but likewise accompanied by high taxation and 
expenditure. The revenues of 1895 amounted to $296,067, 
and the expenditures to $295,022.50. 

Industrially and commercially the Bahamas are in straits. 
The soil is not rich, but is suitable for the cultivation of 
small fruits, vegetables, pineapples, oranges, and cocoanuts. 
Their only market, the United States, is embargoed by our 
tariff laws. The government has tried to encourage the 
cultivation of the sisal-fiber plant ; the shipments have as 
yet been small, however, as the plantations are now only 
reaching the productive stage. Abaco is the chief center 
of the industry. Except in the Caicos and Turks groups, 
where salt is found, most of the inhabitants earn their liv- 
ing from the products of the sea, such as sponges, turtles, 
shells, pearls, ambergris, and wreckage. Sponge-fishing is 
extensively carried on, employing many people, although 



THE BAHAMAS 301 

its total product does not aggregate more than $300,000 a 
year. 

The total exports amounted to $809,733 in 1896. The 
imports from the United Kingdom were $181,608, and from 
the United States $635,113, out of a total of $819,760. So 
far as commerce goes the Bahamas are an American pos- 
session, for we take all that they produce and sell to them 
most of what they consume. 

The Bahamas have regular mail connection with New 
York and Florida, and in the winter season steamers 
run to Palm Beach. A subsidized steamer conveys pas- 
sengers among the different islands. Scrutton's line runs 
directly to London. Nearly all the people own small sail- 
ing-vessels which ply between the islands. There is cable 
connection between Nassau and Florida, and Nassau and. 
the Bermudas, and thence to Halifax. 

The population of the Bahamas is a decadent one ; there 
is neither immigration nor inducement for immigration, 
except for those who wish to enjoy the salubrity of the 
climate. Only thirty-one of the islands were inhabited in 
1890, with a total population of fifty-four thousand. The 
people, though not in distress, are all poor in worldly goods. 
The whites are few in number, and are not noted for their 
industry. Most of the Bahama people are negroes, de- 
scendants of former slaves, and these are of many peculiar 
types and kinds. The isolation of each island has pre- 
served or produced distinct characteristics. Powles has 
said that these " conchs," as they are called, appear still to 
be divided into various groups which retain the tribal 
peculiarities of their African descent, each tribe annually 
electing its own queen and recognizing her authority. 
Furthermore, they vary in language according to that of 
the masters who introduced them. Most of them speak 
English ; some have a decided Scotch dialect, while it is 
alleged that upon one key the Irish dialect prevails. Some 
of these negroes, notably the Fortune Islanders, are excel- 
lent sailors, and are eagerly sought by the American 



302 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

steamers on account of the superiority of their industry to 
that of the other West Indian blacks. 

The principal inhabited islands are New Providence, 
Abaco, Harbor Island, Eleuthera, Mayaguana, Ragged 
Island, Rum Key, Exunia, Long Island, Long Key, and the 
Biminis, all ports of entry, and the G-reat Bahama, Crooked 
Island, Acklin Island, Cat Island and Watlings Island, 
Berry Island, Andros Islands, and Turks and Caicos islands. 

New Providence, having fifteen thousand inhabitants, 
contains over one fourth the people of the entire group. 
On this island is situated Nassau, the capital and only city 
of importance in the Bahamas. Nassau is a pretty place, 
and is a favorite resort of American tourists, who reach it 
from the Floridian coast. It has a population of ten 
thousand people. Flowers and plants and neat English 
houses give it a very attractive appearance. Its shops are 
good, and it has a large and well-conducted American 
hotel, which is principally supported by American ^dsitors. 
It was notable during our Civil War as the headquarters 
of the blockade-runners, some of whom made great for- 
tunes. 

Great Abaco is one of the most thickly peopled of the 
islands. Its population in 1881 was 3610. These people 
are mostly whites, and are interesting to us in that they 
are descendants of American Tories, some of the best 
families of colonial times. In order to preserve the purity 
of the race, however, they have always intermarried within 
the same family circle, and show a marked physical degen- 
eration. 

The Andros Islands are the largest of the entire group, 
and represent nearly a third of the dry land of the archi- 
pelago. They are, moreover, the most densely wooded of 
the Bahamas. 

Harbor Island is the most densely populated, having 
two thousand inhabitants concentrated in a space about 
two miles in extent, who are descended from the old buc- 
aneers and have a communal laud system. 



THE BAHAMAS 303 

Eleuthera, wliicli takes its name from Eleuthera croton, 
a plant formerly much used in medicine, has but few 
inhabitants. Cat Island, so named from the domestic ani- 
mal, which has run wild, is about one hundred and sixty- 
five square miles in extent. It has a population of four 
thousand people, descendants of revolutionary Tories. 
Watlings Island and Rum Key are inhabited by small 
communities. 

East of Watlings Island there is a long, narrow strait 
through which the Windward Passage commerce threads 
its way. On the east of this is an archipelago composed 
of the three islands called Fortune, Crooked, and Acklin, 
which really constitute a single island, being divided by 
shallow channels fordable at low water. Fortune Island 
is a port of call, touched by steamers plying between New 
York and the West Indies. 

Still to the eastward the only islands of importance are 
the Turks and Caicos groups, which are attached to 
Jamaica for administrative purposes. They consist of 
Grand Turk, Salt Key, and a few uninhabited keys. Grrand 
Turk is only seven miles long and a mile and a half wide. 
Salt Key is nine miles long. 

Turks Island was made famous as a port of call by the 
sailing-masters who frequented it in former years. The 
principal features of interest and revenue are the salt- 
ponds, aggregating five hundred and ninety-three acres, 
each acre of which is capable of yielding about four thou- 
sand bushels of salt per annum, dependent upon the 
weather. A million and a half bushels are annually shipped 
to the United States and to Halifax, where it is principally 
used in the codfish industry. The total export is valued 
at $156,750. Sponges are also extensively gathered and 
shipped. Here also is the home of the conch from which 
is obtained the valuable pink pearl. There is no water fit 
for human consumption except rain-water, for which seven 
public tanks have been constructed on Turks Island. 

The total population of the group is fifty-seven hundred 



304 CUBA AND POBTO KICO 

people, about one half of whom are blacks, one third col- 
ored, and one sixth white. The negroes are largely the 
descendants of slaves brought over by Tory refugees from 
Georgia. The latter constructed substantial stone houses 
and made good roads, traces of which still remain. Before 
these came, the islands were settled by immigrants from 
Bermuda in 1G70. 

Turks and Caicos islands were separated politically from 
the Bahamas in 1848, and made a dependency of Jamaica, 
administered, however, by a commissioner as chief execu- 
tive officer, who is president of the legislative board. The 
governor of Jamaica has supervisory power over the local 
government, and is the medium of communication between 
the commissioner and the Colonial Office. Besides this, the 
legislature of Jamaica can pass laws applying to the islands, 
and certain classes of their judicial cases must be dealt 
with by the supreme court of Jamaica. 

Grand Turk is the capital, and the commissioner resides 
there. The town has been described as neat, clean, and 
without the appearance of poverty, although the inhabi- 
tants complain of ruin. It contains several stores, a good 
market-place, a respectable hotel, and a free library and 
reading-room. The library is in a building erected in 
honor of her Majesty's jubilee. 

The revenues are derived almost entirely from import 
duties, the only direct taxes being one on dogs. A royalty 
is paid on the shipment of salt. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

THE LESSEE ANTILLES 

Natural beauty of the islands. Distribution among many governments. 
Differentiation into four types. 

IET US now examine the chain of islands wMch sweeps 
J in a gentle curve from the eastern end of Porto Rico 
around the Caribbean to the northern coast of South Amer- 
ica—the most beautiful and ideal of the tropical lands, 
many of them veritable fairy islands, where the magic hand 
of nature has produced the most esthetic and beautiful 
products of her handiwork, even if ruthless man has done 
much to despoil them. 

The beauties of the Grreat Antilles and the charms of all 
tropical lands about which poets have written fade before 
these. Their histories have been as broken and disturbed 
as their topography, and no less turbid than the wind- 
driven waves of the Atlantic which beat against their wind- 
ward shores, and as cruel as the hurricanes, earthquakes, 
and volcanic outbursts which from time to time have de- 
stroyed the works of man. Pirates and bucaneers have 
preyed upon their civilization, and great nations fighting 
for these gems of the sea have successively seized them so 
often that each has had a history more complicated than 
that which marks our national existence. Here, too, the 
institution of African slavery was introduced, to grow until 
the Caucasian races were gradually crowded out, while each 
island of importance has successively become great in 

20 305 



306 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

wealth from sugar-culture, and finally impoverished by the 
same industry, until all now present pitiful spectacles of 
decaying civilization, these fair lands being gradually 
abandoned to the erstwhile African bondmen. 

Here are remarkable mixtures and contrasts of political 
condition, and economic conditions especially interesting 
in these days when the world is attempting similarly to 
subdivide the Orient. 

Although the largest of these islands hardly exceeds in 
area an average American county, each assumes the indi- 
viduality and political importance of an independent 
empire. By travelers sailing among them they are com- 
monly spoken of as the French, English, Dutch, Danish, 
or Spanish islands. The British possessions are primarily 
segregated at the ends of the chain, constituting several 
distinct colonial governments, especially the Leeward 
Islands to the north and the Windward Islands to the 
south. Besides these the former French islands of Do- 
minica and St. Lucia, near the center of the chain, are im- 
portant British possessions. 

The French group includes the two largest islands of 
the chain, Guadeloupe and Martinique; with these, how- 
ever, are Dominica and St. Lucia, which passed into British 
control at the beginning of the present century, although 
the French language continues to be that of the common 
people. 

The Dutch possessions are islands near the northern 
end, attached, for administrative purposes, to Curasao, on 
the other side of the Caribbean. The two Danish islands 
are also small affairs near the northern end of the group, 
almost abandoned by the country that owns them. 

The historic interest of these islands is great. They 
have been in previous .centuries the chief battle-ground of 
European nations in their attempts to gain supremacy in 
the New World. The conflicts between Frenchman, Span- 
iard, Dane, and Hollander are in themselves enough to fill 
many volumes, while here the bucaneers flourished beyond 



THE LESSEE ANTILLES 307 

the wildest fancy of those who seek pleasure in the reading 
of piratic atrocities. Some of these islands, like Barbados 
and the Bahamas, are interesting to the student of early- 
American colonial history because of the close blood- 
relationship of their early settlers with those of our own 
country, as well as of a similarity in colonial institutions. 
The student of slavery and the ethnology of the black 
race will also find in these islands a fruitful and interest- 
ing field. The student of political economy will find 
here instructive lessons growing out of their dependence 
upon the single industry of sugar, while the student of 
politics will find the administration of the various colonial 
governments a subject unique in interest. 

Sugar is everywhere the principal subject of conversa- 
tion and interest. One is astounded by the apparently 
unbreakable fetters with which its culture has bound the 
inhabitants. The dependence of the Indian of the North 
American plain upon the buffalo, or of the Eskimo upon 
the seal and walrus, was no greater than that of these 
people upon sugar. The rise and fall in its price, the revo- 
lution of methods of its extraction from the cane, or of its 
refinement, have affected their whole lives, at one time 
enriching them and at others reducing them to the most 
pitiful poverty. 

Viewed from the deck of the passing steamer, all the 
Lesser Antilles are beautiful beyond description. Rising 
as they mostly do in wooded summits from the azure sea, 
they appear to be the acme of all that is picturesque, lovely, 
and restful. Beautiful as these islands are in nature, es- 
pecially in perspective, their charm is diminished when 
the traveler steps on shore and comes in contact with the 
poverty of the inhabitants. This does not impress one by 
any outward aspect of actual want and suffering, but by 
the general appearance of decay. Everywhere one sees in 
the well- constructed buildings and plantations, once in- 
habited by the wealthy and hospitable Creoles, reminders 
of the former conditions of prosperity ; yet these no longer 



308 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

exhibit the signs of wealth which made the islands famous. 
By their owners the traveler will be treated with hospital- 
ity and kindness, the people always welcoming an intelli- 
gent stranger ; but the latter can have only a feeling of pity 
as he sees their struggles against an inevitable fate, while 
they endeavor to maintain the outward semblance and 
graces of their former lavish hospitality. The hotel ac- 
commodations, at least, have the merit of cleanliness, and 
the food is the best that the country affords. 

Before proceeding to describe the individual islands, it 
is well to consult the map again ; for the Lesser Antilles 
are of at least four distinct types, each differing from the 
others in physical aspects, geologic origin, and industrial 
possibilities. These groups may be termed the Virgin, the 
Caribbee, the South American, and the Barbadian, each 
of which will now be described in turn. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

THE VIEGIN ISLANDS AND ST. CEOIX 

Their Antillean character and position. Greological character. Various 
kinds of government. St. Thomas. St. John. Virgin Gorda. 
Anegada. St. Croix. 

AHYDEOGRAPHIC chart of the West Indies, such as 
sailors use, shows a long, shallow bank, hardly one 
hundred fathoms deep, extending eastward from the end 
of Porto Rico like a crescent curving to the northward, from 
which rise numerous small islands of the Virgin group. 
This bank is the eastward continuation of the same shoal 
or platform that surrounds all the Great Antilles, and the 
islands are Antillean in their structure and origin, and are 
the summits of the submerged eastern end of the Antillean 
mountain chain. On the south and east this bank is 
terminated by the Anegada Passage, which separates the 
Virgins from the Caribbean chain by a narrow marine strait 
nearly three thousand fathoms deep. 

The Virgin Islands were discovered by Columbus on St. 
Ursula's day, and so named by him because they extended 
in a long procession like that of the eleven thousand vir- 
gins of the Christian legend. Most of the islands are 
small, and some of them precipitous and hardly habitable. 
Proceeding eastward from Porto Rico, the largest of them 
are Crab Island, Culebra, St. Thomas, St. John, Tortola, 
Virgin Gorda, and Anegada. Besides these there are more 
than fifty smaller islands or keys— Scrub Island, Beef 

309 



310 CUBA AND POETO RICO 

Island, Old Jerusalem, Eouud Eock, Ginger, Coopers, Salt, 
Peters, Norman Islands, etc. 

They are all mountainous, projecting above the water 
like tips of submerged peaks, which they really are. They 
are very rugged, and are beautiful when viewed from the 
sea. The upper outline of hills of the larger islands, with 
its multitudinous little coves and dry gullies, reminded 
Kingsley of the Auvergne Mountains. " Their water-line 
has been exposed to the gnawing of the sea at the present 
level, and everywhere the cliffs are freshly broken, toppling 
down in dust and boulders, and leaving detached stacks 
and skerries. Most beautiful meanwhile are the winding 
channels of blue water, like landlocked lakes, which part 
the Virgins from each other; and beautiful the white 
triangular sails of the canoe-rigged craft which beat up 
and down them through strong currents and cockling seas. 
The clear air, the still soft outline, the rich yet delicate 
coloring, stir up a sense of purity and freshness, and peace 
and cheerfulness, such as is stirred up by certain views of 
the Mediterranean and its shores." 

The total area of all the islands hardly aggregates two 
hundred square miles, the largest of them, St. Thomas, 
possessing only thirty-seven square miles. The current 
impression that these islands, as a whole, are either of vol- 
canic or coral-reef origin, is a mistake. Traces of marine 
volcanism are less apparent than in New England, while 
the coral rocks are only an attenuated fringe added in 
recent geologic time. They are all of the same general 
geologic composition as the Glreat Antilles, consisting of a 
foundation of rocks of suspected Paleozoic origin, covered 
by great masses of Cretaceous and Tertiary conglomerate 
and clay, derived from the now vanished geologic Atlantis, 
which in turn are veneered by the mantle of oceanic chalky- 
white limestones, and these fringed by a border of coral- 
reef rock. Penetrating the older rocks are dikes of ancient 
volcanic material. 

The smaller islets are marked by stretches of coral and 



THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AND ST. CROIX 311 

shell-sand overgrown by cocoloba and cactus, largely prickly- 
pear. They are all more or less densely covered by vege- 
tation similar to that of all the Lesser Antilles. The trees 
on the windward sides are rough and shaggy, and are bent 
downward against the land by the wind. On the leeward 
or sheltered sides, palms, trees, shrubs, and flowers grow in 
profusion, while aloes, cacti, and thorny shrubs occur in 
the more arid spots. 

Even this small group of islands is divided among vari- 
ous nationalities, much to their detriment. Crab and Cule- 
bra, which have already been described under the head of 
Porto Rico, are Spanish. The Danes own the islands of 
St. Thomas and St. John. Anegada, .Virgin Grorda, Tor- 
tola, and a number of smaller islets belong to Great Britain. 

The English Virgins constitute a crown colony of Great 
Britain, and are ruled by a commissioner who is responsi- 
ble to the governor of the Leeward Islands colony, which 
has its capital at Antigua. They have a total area of only 
ninety-three square miles and a decaying population, which 
numbered 8506 in 1881, and 8340 in 1891. Their inhabi- 
tants are what Great Britain graciously terms peasant 
proprietors— negroes supporting themselves by the cultiva- 
tion of small crops of yams and other foods upon which 
the white man could not live, and by fishing. 

In all the islands the majority of the population is com- 
posed of negroes, above whom are the white colonial offi- 
cials of the government, who constitute a kind of local 
aristocracy. The negroes, as a rule, are thoroughly con- 
tent and orderly, being allowed a sufficient degree of 
democracy in the local government to keep them loyal. 
Besides these two classes there are a few white creole 
planters, the remnants of a vanishing stock which was once 
the chief element of the population, but has gradually 
migrated to more prosperous lands, leaving behind weak 
and impoverished descendants— excellent people, who are 
to be pitied. 

These small islands are now unimportant. The only 



312 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

one which is at all conspicuous is St. Thomas, which was 
formerly the commercial metropolis of the West Indies, and 
which still ranks next, among the Lesser Antilles, to 
Bridgetown, Barbados, and Port of Spain, Trinidad. Its 
capital, which all the world calls St. Thomas, is officially- 
known as Charlotte Amalia. It has a population of over 
ten thousand, and is the seat of government of the Danish 
West Indian Islands. 

St. Thomas is built on three hills running in a parallel 
line on the northern or inner extremity of the bay, with 
still higher hills beyond. The many- colored houses and 
the vegetation make a very pretty picture, especially when 
viewed from the sea. Kingsley described the town as " a col- 
lection of scarlet and purple roofs piled up among orange- 
trees, at the foot of hills some eight hundred feet high ; a 
veritable Dutch oven for cooking fever in, with as veritable 
a dripping-pan for the poison when concocted in the tide- 
less basin below the town, as ever man invented. The 
beach of St. Thomas is lined by the usual tropical fringe 
of cocoanut-trees, though here they look more sad and 
shabby than elsewhere. Above these, on the cliffs, are 
tall aloes, gray-blue cerei like huge branching candelabra, 
and bushes, the foliage of which is utterly unlike anything 
of the temperate climes, while still higher the bright deep 
green of patches of guinea-grass and a few fruit-trees may 
be seen around some island cottage." 

The city is lighted with gas, possesses a theater, two 
club-houses, and several hotels, as well as a slip on which 
small vessels can be repaired. The principal street follows 
the shore-line ; behind it are tiers of houses covering the 
slopes of the hill which rises from the harbor. The high- 
est point of the island, behind the city, is 1560 feet, and it 
affords a beautiful view of the surrounding waters, with 
their many islands. 

The harbor is a nearly circular basin on the south side, 
easy of access and sheltered from the trade-winds. It has 
been visited by terrible hurricanes, especially in 1819, 1837, 



THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AND ST. CROIX 313 

and 1867. For the accommodation of larger ships there is 
a floating dock belonging to the Royal Mail Steamship Com- 
pany, which is much resorted to for the docking of steamers. 
The same company has also a large stock of coal, and a 
factory fitted up with the necessary appliances for keep- 
ing its fleet in repair. The Hamburg- American Packet 
Company makes St. Thomas its West India headquarters 
and coaling-station, and many American and European 
steamers stop there. It is still the terminus of the north- 
ern route of the Royal Mail auxiliary steamers, which 
branch out in every direction from Barbados. Steamers 
also run at frequent intervals from St. Thomas to Porto 
Rico, thirty-eight miles to the westward; also to San 
Domingo and Haiti. The island is in telegraphic com- 
munication with Europe and the principal islands in the 
West Indies, and is the headquarters of the West India 
and Panama Telegraph Company, which connects with the 
United States. 

Nearly every language is spoken in St. Thomas, English 
predominating. The official language is Danish, but 
Spanish, Dutch, and French are also spoken. TroUope 
describes St. Thomas as a " niggery, Hispano, Dano, Yan- 
kee Doodle sort of place, with a general flavor of sherry- 
cobbler." 

St. Thomas has been declining for many years, for vari- 
ous reasons. The supplanting of sailing-ships by steamers 
was the first great blow; then the construction of cables 
was detrimental to the business of the place as an inter- 
mediary port. Between 1870 and 1880 trade took wings, 
the old commercial importance of the island disappeared, 
and Denmark tried to sell it to the United States, offering 
it and St. John for $4,750,000. The inhabitants, sharing 
■the universal desire of the West Indian people for annexa- 
tion to the United States, gave their unanimous consent 
to the arrangement, but our government declined to ratify 
the purchase. As a final blow, the Royal Mail Steamship 
Company, the great English distributing line, which is so 



314 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

important a factor iu the West Indies, removed its head- 
quarters to Barbados. It is estimated that this removal 
caused a loss of many thousand pounds a year to the 
island. 

The production of sugar in St. Thomas has been falling 
off since the abolition of slavery in 1848, and it is here that 
the traveler, proceeding southward through the Caribbee 
Islands, sees upon landing those ever-present signs of 
natural decay, the abandoned sugar-houses and -mills, 
though nature conceals the old cane-fields by rapidly 
spreading over them her mantle of tropical vegetation. 
The cultivation of aloes and fibrous plants is being tried, 
but not with any particular prospect of success. There 
are also plantations of divi-divi trees and the usual tropi- 
cal fruits. 

The healthfulness of the place has been greatly improved 
of late years by cutting a channel which gives another 
outlet from its harbor to the sea, thereby creating currents 
which remove the filth, an experiment that suggests the 
possibilities of Havana in the same line. 

St. John, which also belongs to the Danes, lies almost 
within gunshot of St. Thomas, to the .east, and is very 
similar to the latter in general aspects ; but as it is away 
from the paths of ocean trade, it is obliged to live upon its 
own meager internal resources. It has a port called Coral 
Bay, which is said to be one of the best harbors of refuge 
in the Antilles. The capital of the island is an obscure 
village on the northern side. 

Tortola succeeds St. John to the northeast. It is trav- 
\| ersed by a central ridge which culminates in a peak 
eighteen hundred feet high. It is the largest of the British 
Virgins, and presents a very rocky and precipitous configu- 
ration. The absence of forests on the mountains contributes 
to its rugged appearance. The island is eighteen miles 
from east to west, and seven from north to south. It is 
very poorly watered, and abounds in waste lands and 
pasturage. The soil is not good enough for sugar, though 



THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AND ST. CROIX 315 

cane has been grown there. This island was a great 
stronghold of the bucaneers, but afterward fell into the 
hands of the peaceful Quakers, who freed the slaves and 
made them grants of land. The emancipated negroes then 
deserted the island, and many of the impoverished whites 
quickly followed them, so that the population fell from 
eleven thousand to four thousand. Eoad Town, on the 
south side, is the capital of the English Virgin Islands 
Presidency. 

Virgin Grorda, or Spanish Town Island, also British, is l^^ 
nearly eight miles long, of irregular shape, and very nar- 
row at both ends. It contains fifty-two thousand acres, 
and has a rocky coast ; it is arid, almost uninhabited, and 
nearly surrounded by dangerous reefs. Its former con- 
siderable plantations are now largely abandoned. 

Extending northward from Virgin Grorda are a number 
of small, uninhabited, rocky islets, which constitute a men- 
ace to navigation. Anegada, or Drown Island, the most 
northeasterly of the group, about twelve miles long and 
two miles wide, is surrounded by the famous Horseshoe 
Eeef. The island is low, and the sea often breaks over it. 
The few inhabitants are principally engaged in raising 
goats, sheep, and cattle. The revenue of the island is very 
small, and the trade is almost exclusively with St. Thomas 
and St. Croix. 

It has been said that as a great work of nature the Vir- 
gin Islands seem full of intelligent design ; but as cultivable 
lands they do not, in their present condition, show that 
much success has attended the efforts of man. The white 
men who formerly inhabited them are rapidly leaving, and 
the blacks are following them, though more slowly. 

St. Croix, or Santa Cruz, lies to the southeast of Porto 
Bico, and due south of the Virgin Islands, isolated from 
the other islands, but more Antillean than Caribbean in its 
geognostic aspects. Its area is seventy-four square miles. 
It has a high and sharp configuration, with deep cliffs 
near the shore and many low hills in the interior, all cov- 



/^ 



316 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

ered with beautiful vegetation. Hearn has told of the 
"wonderful variation of foliage color that meets the eye." 
" Grold- greens, sap-greens, bluish and metallic greens of 
many tints, reddish greens, yellowish greens. The cane- 
fields are broad sheets of beautiful gold-green, and nearly 
as bright are the masses of pomme-cannelle frondescence, 
the groves of lemon and orange ; while tamarinds and ma- 
hoganies are heavily somber. Everywhere palm-crests 
soar above the wood-lines and tremble with a metallic 
shimmering in the blue light." 

The island is Denmark's largest American possession, 
but the nineteen thousand inhabitants, mostly blacks, 
speak English, and give no signs of their nationality beyond 
a little garrison and its flag. 

There are many magnificent drives through avenues 
of cocoa-palms, tamarind- trees, and ceibas. Frangipani, 
bananas, cacti, and jasmine are cultivated everywhere. 
The sugar-planters have endeavored to live by adopting 
new methods and machinery, and are better off than those 
of the English islands; but there are many abandoned 
plantations and buildings going to decay. Several New 
England ship-captains have become planters on the island. 

The temperature ranges from 66° to 82°. The lower 
temperature is considered exceedingly cold by the inhabi- 
tants, and is usually the southern fringe of the extreme cold 
waves which occasionally sweep the eastern United States. 

There are two towns, Frederiksted and Christiansted, 
which are generally called West End and Basse End re- 
spectively. Frederiksted, when viewed from the sea, 
looks like a beautiful Spanish town, with Eomanesque 
piazzas, churches, and many-arched buildings peeping 
through breaks in the breadfruit-, mango-, tamarind-, and 
palm-trees ; but on entering the streets you find yourself 
in a crumbling town with dilapidated, two- story buildings, 
from which the stucco or paint is falling. The fissures in 
the walls and the tumbling roofs may be largely due to the 
fact that the city was sacked by the negroes, who revolted 



THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AND ST. CROIX 317 

in 1878. A broad paved square is the market-place, where 
the darkies stand or squat upon the ground, with their 
wares piled at their feet. The city is full of short, thick- 
set women carrying bundles upon their heads and wearing 
bright cottonade stuffs, chatting loudly in an English 
jargon. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS 

Classification into volcanic and. calcareous subgroups. The Anguillan 
subgroup. Sombrero. Anguilla. St. Barts. St. Martin. Bar- 
buda. Antigua. 

STRETCHING like the piers of a bridge across the 
entrance to the Caribbean Sea, from the Anegada 
Passage to Trinidad, is a chain of beautiful lands which 
may be called the Caribbee Islands. They rise from a 
narrow submarine bank, like the Antilles, but have a north- 
and-south trend, directly at right angles to that of the 
latter, and separated therefrom by the deep Anegada Pas- 
sage, each chain probably representing the survival of 
what were great islands in former geologic times. 

Primarily the Caribbees are composed of a long chain of 
old volcanic islands, upon the summits of some of which 
the volcanic fires are still somnolent, bordered on the 
windward or Atlantic side of the north end of the quad- 
rant by great banks of white calcareous rocks which have 
been elevated from the sea as a kind of shelf or appendage 
to the main volcanic chain. The main chain of islands 
will be called the Caribbees, and the calcareous outliers the 
Anguillan subgroup. 

These calcareous islands occur in parallel alinement along 
the northeast side of the main Caribbean chain, extending 
from Sombrero to Maria Galante inclusive. They consist 
of the islands of Sombrero, Anguilla, St. Bartholomew, 

318 



THE CAKIBBEE ISLANDS 319 

St. Martin, Barbuda, Antigua (in part), the Glrande-Terre 
of Guadeloupe, and Maria Gralante. Inasmuch as these 
are of secondary importance to the main chain, they will 
be but briefly discussed. 

Sombrero, the most northern of the islands, is so named 
because at a distance it looks like a grayish hat floating on 
the sea. It is a small and barren mass of calcareous rock, 
— old beach debris elevated into land,— and was considered 
of no value until Americans developed extensive phosphate 
deposits upon it, which are now nearly exhausted. Near 
by is a cluster of rocks called the Dogs, from their resem- 
blance to a pack of hounds in full chase over the waves. 

Anguilla is fourteen miles long and three miles broad. 
It is a long, low, treeless, and unfruitful area. Of its 
population of twenty-five hundred less than one hundred 
are white. Several small outlying islands are associated 
with Anguilla in forming a British colony, which is under 
the general government of St. Kitts. Pasturage is the 
principal resource. The people raise small ponies that 
graze on the salt-grass along the beach. Some phosphate 
of lime, salt, a little tobacco, corUj, and cattle are produced. 

St. Bartholomew, familiarly called St. Barts, is on the 
southern extremity of a bank from which rise also Anguilla 
and St. Martin. It is a narrow island, only eight square 
miles in area, the whole surface of which is mountainous, 
culminating in a limestone hill one thousand feet high. 
The place has no fresh water, although many brackish 
lagoons occur along the coast. The geological formations 
of the island, except the fringe of recent rocks, are mostly 
old Tertiary limestones. The surface is a very stony soil 
composed of rock fragments and boulders. The mountain 
masses contain older igneous rocks — a kind of syenitic 
porphyry; conglomerates and breccias occur in number- 
less varieties. 

The island is an administrative dependency of Guade- 
loupe. The capital is Fort Gustave ; the people, mainly of 
French descent, speak English. It was originally settled 



320 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

by the French, who held possession until 1784, when it 
was traded to Sweden ; but in 1878, France purchased it 
back. 

St. Martin, thirty-eight square miles in area, is almost 
triangular in outline and composed of many lofty conical 
hills, culminating on the north side in Paradise Peak, 1920 
feet high, while other peaks follow to the south. The west 
side is marked by stretches of a low-lying peninsula known 
as Basse-Terre. Along the shores are many large lagoons, 
and in the interior several rivulets and permanent springs. 
It is diversified by lofty mountains and broad plains. On 
the lower slopes and hillsides are fertile plantations, while 
the heights are covered with dense forest. The rocks are 
largely composed of silicious limestone intersected by 
dikes of greenstone and diorite, all of which are bordered 
by the more recent formations of white granular lime- 
stone. 

The political complexion of St. Martin is peculiar. 
Seventeen square miles of the northern section belong to 
France, and the rest to Holland, while the settlers, largely 
blacks, are principally British, who outnumber both the 
Dutch and French. About three thousand of the inhabi- 
tants are in the French portion of the island, and five thou- 
sand in the Dutch. 

The French capital, on the west side, is a queer place by 
the name of Marigot ; it is a free port and has a little ship- 
ping. The Dutch town Philipsburg lies on a narrow beach 
at the south side. Like all the other West Indies, this 
island was once the seat of sugar-culture, but the inhabi- 
tants are now generally engaged in making salt and raising 
provisions. 

Barbuda lies thirty miles northeast of Antigua, well out 
in the Atlantic Ocean. Its area is sixty-two square miles. 
It is low and flat, consisting of two general levels, one of 
which hardly rises more than five feet above the sea, except 
near the eastern side, where a terraced table-land reaches 
one hundred and fifteen feet in height. On a misty day 



THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS 321 

the island is hardly visible, and many shipwrecks occur. 
In former years these accidents were the chief support of 
the population, who made their living by wrecking. The 
absence of a lighthouse makes navigation dangerous. 
Barbuda is composed entirely of granular shell-debris, ele- 
vated by geological action. The surface is covered by a 
dense thicket of chaparral, with a few good-sized trees 
growing upon the thin limestone soil. Notwithstanding 
assertions to the contrary, the land is unfit for general 
agriculture. As there are no running streams, the inhabi- 
tants are dependent upon cisterns, while the wild animals 
live upon such rain-water as is caught in the cracks and 
crevices of the rocks. Nearly all the European domestic 
animals introduced in former centuries have run wild; 
goats, horses, cattle, and cats have returned to their prime- 
val state, while hundreds of English fallow-deer are found. 
The African guinea-fowl is here in great abundance, and 
is as shy and timid as the American quail. Wild dogs 
also abound. 

Politically Barbuda is a parish of Antigua, being admin- 
istered by a resident justice of the peace, whose business 
it is to look after poachers. His staff consists of a school- 
teacher and a midwife. For three hundred years it was 
a hunting-preserve of the Coddrington family of Barbados, 
whose name so frequently appears in the annals of the 
British West Indies, and it has never been opened to set- 
tlement. Nevertheless, the island has been squatted upon 
by a hardy race of negroes, who have developed into a 
peculiar class, noted throughout the West Indies for their 
splendid physical development and ability as sailors. They 
are restricted by the company owning the island to the use 
of a few acres of land ; and although they are not per- 
mitted by law to gather a stick of wood, to kill the wild 
animals, or to fish inshore, they manage to poach a good 
living. They live in a village which is perhaps more thor- 
oughly African than any other in the New World. The 
huts are of the most primitive African type, composed of 



322 CUBA AND POBTO KICO 

wickerwork with tliatched roofs, each ench'cled loj a 
wicker fence, and so huddled together that in order to walk 
through the village one follows serpentine paths barely 
wide enough for a single person. 

At present the island is leased by a Scotch company, 
which derives a small revenue from hunting the deer for 
their hides, and cutting the yellow sandalwood. The 
overseer, the only white man on the island, lives in com- 
fort in the one civilized building, known as the Great 
House, which was formerly the Coddrington hunting-lodge. 

Barbuda has been seldom visited by travelers ; in fact, 
the writer is one of the few who have had an opportunity 
to explore it within recent years, thanks to the courtesy of 
Mr. Donald Dougald, the genial Scotch agent, who kindly 
granted the hospitality of his private schooner and the 
attendance of his servants upon the island. 

There are several ruins of old forts,— -strongholds built 
by England during the last century, — whose massive walls 
and round towers are still found in various parts of the 
island, reminders of the days when every foot of the West 
Indies was so valiantly struggled for by the European 
nations. 

The island has no harbor, and landing is made through 
the surf on the backs of sailors, who deposit one on a beach 
of shell-sand. In the distance this beach looks like a nar- 
row band of white intercalated between the blue of the 
ocean and the green of the la"nd. Upon close approach, 
however, beautiful blushes of carmine can be seen to glow 
and fade awaj^ with each dash of the ocean surf. These 
blushes vie in color with the iridescent tints of the royal 
Caribbean sunsets. This phenomenon was easily explained 
upon close examination. Each wash of the waves brings 
up millions of tiny pink shells, which are deep red while 
wet, but fade as they dry between long rolls of the surf. 

Antigua is the principal island of the Leeward group, of 
which it is the political capital, being the residence of the 
governor and his staff. Until recent years this was one of 




STREET SHOWING CATHEDRAL AND PUBLIC LIBRARY, ST. JOHN 




SUGAR-ESTATE 



ANTIGUA 



THE CAEIBBEE ISLANDS 323 

the most valuable of England's possessions in the Lesser 
Antilles. The northern half consists of undulating plains 
of calcareous formation, like Sombrero and Barbuda, while 
the southern side is of a more mountainous type, composed 
of old volcanic tuffs and covered with forests. 

On the west side is the principal and practically the only 
port at present utilized, that of St. John. The town lies 
at the inner end of a magnificent oblong bay, with a pictur- 
esque island in its center. This bay is so shallow, however, 
that steamers are obliged to lie five miles away from the 
city and load from lighters. An immense sum has been 
expended in preparing to dredge a channel to the city, but 
through some financial difficulty the machinery lies in the 
harbor unutilized. St. John is a pleasant place, consisting 
of large and commodious frame houses situated upon clean, 
well-graded, and macadamized streets. There are many 
public buildings, handsome gardens and lawns, the public 
institutions all being models of neatness and order. There 
is an imposing English cathedral. A good public library, 
freely patronized by the inhabitants, is found upon one of 
the central streets. 

Royal Harbor, on the eastern side of the island, was the 
headquarters of the British admiralty in the West Indies 
during the French wars. The gateway leading into this 
harbor from the landward side is now guarded by a single 
marine, and the massive buildings in which English naval 
heroes were formerly quartered are silent and deserted. 

Most of Antigua is in a state of cultivation, being laid 
out in neat plantations with extensive manor-houses and 
sugar-mills, while finely constructed roads lead to all parts 
of the island. Each estate has extensive sugar-houses, 
with huge Dutch windmills for grinding cane, although 
steam machinery has been largely introduced, and the 
people believe that the introduction of improved processes 
will benefit them. The population is 36,119, mostly blacks, 
yet the land is held by less than sixty owners. The white 
planters— intelligent and respectable Englishmen or their 



324 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

descendants — are reduced in circumstances, and present to 
the stranger the aspect of a refined but impoverished peo- 
I)le, bravely endeavoring to keep up appearances. The 
negroes are orderly, well educated in the elementary 
branches, and willing laborers at less than a shilling a day ; 
but even these show poverty in their emaciated forms, their 
depressed manner, and the lack of that luster of complex- 
ion which always indicates the well-fed black. 

The economic condition of Antigua is indeed pitiful. 
Of the total exports of the island ninety-six per cent, is 
sugar, and between the years 1882 and 1896 the value of 
the sugar exports decreased fully one half. In former 
times it was one of the most productive of the sugar 
islands, but has suffered from falling prices and the con- 
stant strain upon the soil of over-cultivation. The scrawny 
cane-fields require a greater outlay in fertilizers than they 
can possibly return in profit ; furthermore, the cane is sub- 
ject to mildews and other parasitic fungi which sap its 
vitality. Accompanying this struggle to maintain the 
sugar industry there has been a falling off of wages of the 
hosts of laborers who are dependent upon it. It did not 
require the evidence taken before the late British" Sugar 
Commission to show that poverty is increasing, houses 
falling into disrepair, and that generally a state of depres- 
sion exists, which must eventually cause still more suffer- 
ing and discontent. So far as the culture of cane is 
concerned, the people have availed themselves of every 
method of modern agriculture. The government supports 
a chemical laboratory where the needs of the soil are care- 
fully studied, as well as the diseases of the cane, yet the 
crop is constantly decreasing in quantity as well as depre- 
ciating in value. Most of the sugar is still made by the 
muscovado process, owing to the special fitness of the soil 
for producing a cane-juice yielding a rich and valuable 
quality of molasses. As in all places which depend on the 
export of muscovado sugar, the great fall in molasses has 
been another blow to the planters. 




A SUBURBAN HIGHWAY 




VIEW OF CITY AND HARBOR 

ST. JOHN, ANTIGUA 



s 



THE CARIBBEE ISLANDS 325 

England has done all within her power to give this 
island civilization, but, with the decrease in the price of 
sugar, government expenditures have rapidly grown, owing 
largely to the attempts to improve the harbor; and the 
public revenue is now far less than the expenses. If the 
sugar industry fails, the future of Antigua will be more 
gloomy than that of the other islands, its capabilities being 
less and its liability to droughts and hurricanes greater. 
The local trade, once in the hands of rich English mer- 
chants, is now rapidly falling into the hands of a people 
who are known as Portuguese, but in reality are natives 
of the Azores. 

Grande-Terre (Gruadeloupe), Desirade, and Maria Gralante, 
which by natural affinities belong to the Anguillan group, 
are politically essential parts of Guadeloupe, and will later 
be described with that island. 



CHAPTER XXX 

THE VOLCANIC CAEIBBEES 

Singular beauty of the islands. Flora, fauna, and geological character. 
Saba. St. Eustatius. St. Christopher. Nevis. Montserrat. 

THE symmetrical row of true Caribbees begins with 
Saba, on the north, and ends with Grenada, on the 
south. It consists of eleven conspicuous members, in- 
cluding, in order, the islands of Saba, St. Eustatius, St. 
Christopher (St. Kitts), Nevis, Montserrat, Gruadeloupe, 
Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grrenada. 
This group is perfectly alined in a flattened crescent, the 
concave side of which faces westward ; its members occur 
at remarkably regular intervals, averaging about thirty 
miles. They are extraordinarily alike in configuration, 
climate, and economic possibilities, and yet collectively 
different in natural aspect from any other West Indian 
group. 

A beautiful sight presents itself to the traveler who sails 
down the inner side of the Caribbee Islands and views 
from the steamer's deck these wonderful lands as they 
pass in rapid procession, rising almost vertically from the 
deep-blue sea, which on this side is ordinarily of glassy 
smoothness. Each island seems to float in the atmosphere 
between the azure waters and the wealth of misty clouds 
which envelops its summits; the gorgeous colors on its 
slopes present, under the various influences of the cloud- 
tempered lights, every shade of delicate tropical vegetation. 

32C 



THE VOLCANIC CAKIBBEES 327 

When thus viewed the islands appear as Edens of loveliness. 
Their general tone is fresh and green, or, in comparison 
with the other islands, more somber, for the glaring whites 
so conspicuous where limestones and shell-sand abound 
are entirely missing here. 

While precipitous to an astonishing degree, they are not 
craggy or angular, but rise in great curves and slopes to 
the rounded summits of the high mornes which crown 
them. These mountains are peaks, but not pointed, and 
while appearing everywhere, they do not occur in regular 
crests or ridges, but are arranged in intangible masses. 
From the sea the slopes appear so steep that the beholder 
constantly wonders how human beings can find upon them 
foothold to till the cultivated areas or to travel from place 
to place through the jungle of verdure ; yet one will see 
here and there, surrounded by the more somber forests, 
bright patches of green cane accompanied by large groups 
of houses. In addition to its own matchless verdure, each 
island is ornamented with palms, roses, and exotic plants 
brought from all parts of the world by the former inhabi- 
tants. Here the gigantic banian of India grows beside the 
African date-tree and the traveler's palm of Madagascar. 

Ashore, so far as nature is concerned, the illusion is not 
dispelled. The vast mornes, cliffs, and ravines are decked 
with every delicate species of deciduous vegetation, from 
ferns that entangle the feet to forest giants that cast their 
shade from high overhead. These are moistened by gen- 
tle daily rains, giving the delicious odors and aspect of a 
landscape after a summer shower. Nature has been no 
less generous in her bestowal of limpid waters than in her 
vegetal bounties; everywhere there are running streams, 
springs, fountains, and cascades, so copious and abundant 
that it is a matter of wonder how watersheds so small can 
supply them. The picturesque houses of the European 
residents, built in the styles of former centuries, and the 
varied dress and habits of the peculiar people are ever 
interesting, especially in the five central islands of the 



328 CUBA AND POKTO RICO 

group, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, and 
St. Lucia. 

The climate of the Caiibbee Islands is in general pleas- 
ing, the equable temperature ranging from about Q6° to 
82° at the level of the sea, and slightly decreasing toward 
the summits. The rainfall also varies with altitude and 
locality relative to the trade-winds, the precipitation being 
usually much greater on the leeward side. There is hardly 
a day in the year when gentle rains fail to fall, and some- 
times tremendous cloud-bursts occur, with disastrous 
results. 

Geologically these islands are peculiar. They are of 
volcanic origin, but not volcanoes, although a few craters 
can be found, though invisible from the distance, nestled 
in some of the lofty eroded summits. The islands are great 
heaps of old volcanic debris piled up in the Tertiary period, 
which have been carved by water into their present forms. 
The rocks are all basalts or crumbling tuffs, which weather 
into black soils of marvelous depth and richness. 

While not blessed with native mammals, these islands 
abound in beautiful birds; each has a special fauna. 
Of one hundred and twenty-eight birds collected by 
Ober, seven species only are common to all the islands, 
while as many as fifty-two of them occur in one island. 
There are singularly few venomous reptiles or insects, 
except on Martinique and St. Lucia, where are found the 
fer-de-lance, a poisonous trigonocephalous snake, the most 
venomous and deadly of the serpentine kind. 

The windward sides are quite different ; the open Atlan- 
tic breaks with a terrible surf against the shores, and the 
trade-winds sweep them with such ferocity that the vege- 
tation all bends in a cringing position toward the land. 
There are no ports along this side, and passing steamers 
keep far from the shores. 

These islands, so allied by natural affinities into a kin- 
dred group, are cursed by unnatural distribution among 
the nationalities. Sailing down them you first meet Dutch 




TOWN OF BOTTOM, ISLAND OF SABA, SITUATED IN AN OLD CRATER 




GUSTAVIA, ST. BARTHOLOMEW 
CAEIBBEE ISLANDS 



THE VOLCANIC CARIBBEES 329 

Saba, from which you can see the same flag flying over St. 
Eustatius, or beyond it the Union Jack of England on St. 
Kitts. The last-named government also owns Nevis. 
Then comes French Gruadeloupe, from which you can see 
English Dominica, intentionally left between it and French 
Martinique for the purpose of severing the two French 
colonies. From Martinique southward the others are 
British possessions, though St. Lucia is French in popula- 
tion and tradition. 

Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Christopher, Nevis, and Mont- 
serrat constitute the northern end of the chain, and their 
combined area is not equal to that of any one of the five 
central islands. Saba and St. Eustatius are exceptional 
features, inasmuch as they are each fine examples of old 
volcanic cones or craters. 

The queer little Dutch island of Saba is only five square 
miles in area. It is a single volcanic cone rising sharply 
out of the sea to a height of nearly twenty-eight hundred 
feet. The volcanic rocks of the island are not solid basalts, 
but mostly irregularly stratified tuffs. There is said to be a 
large mine of pure sulphur. The landing is a rocky cove, 
and from this one must ascend a precipitous pathway 
known as the Ladder, consisting of steps cut in the rock, to 
the height of eight hundred feet, in order to reach the 
principal settlement, known as the town of Bottom, which 
is located on the floor of the old crater. Everything has 
to be transported up to this height on the heads of the 
people ; one hundred pounds is the ordinary load. The 
twenty-five hundred Dutch residents forming the prin- 
cipal population are fair-skinned, rosy-cheeked, and tow- 
headed, and afford an interesting example of successful 
north-European colonization in the tropics. Strange to 
say, their principal occupations are seafaring and boat- 
building. The best and stanchest fishing-boats of the 
Caribbees are built in this crater and lowered down the 
mountain-side with ropes. The timber for constructing 
the boats must also be drawn up in a similar manner. 



330 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

Saba is also exceptional in that its population is white, the 
blacks overwhelmingly predominating in the other islands. 

St. Eustatius, St. Christopher, and Nevis seem to be the 
tips of a larger submerged area represented by a shallow 
bank which closely follows their shores. St. Eustatius, 
eight square miles in area, is also a part of Holland's di- 
minutive American domain, and has a population of 2350 
people, mostly Dutch and negroes. The island has a few 
patches of level land, but is largely made up of several old 
volcanic hills, like two or three Sabas crowded on a single 
platform. The principal crater is near the southern end of 
the island, and is a perfect specimen of a cinder-cone, 
slightly broken down on the northern side, the lower slopes 
falling away into low hills and meadows, which make up 
by far the greater part of the island, which is thinly 
inhabited and without trade. In olden times its caves and 
secret valleys served as hiding-places for pirates and 
smugglers, and it is not entirely free from suspicion at 
the present day. Stoddard, in his charming book entitled 
" Cruising among the Caribbees," says that St. Eustatius 
is a great resort for picnic parties. Judging from the 
condition in which a party returned thence to St. Kitts, 
some of whose members paid a visit to Stoddard's ship 
after their day's outing, there must still be stores of spirits 
in the craters, and a readiness to share them with all comers. 

St. Christopher— or St. Kitts, as the English call it- 
can be seen from St. Eustatius, apparently floating like a 
huge black iceberg in the sea. A nearer approach brings 
out its beautiful colors. Hearn has pictured it as a long 
chain of crater shapes, truncated, jagged, or round. 'All 
these are united by the curving hollows of land or by fila- 
ments, — very low valleys, — and from a distance not remote 
take on a curious segmented, jointed appearance, like cer- 
tain insect forms. 

The oval-shaped island is thirteen miles long and from 
three to six in width, embracing in all about sixty-five 
square miles, three fourths of its area being under cultiva- 



THE VOLCANIC CAKIBBEES 331 

tion. The mountains of St. Kitts are broken into wild 
ridges and ravines for several thousand feet, meeting the 
sky with an edge like a knife-blade, and culminating in a 
pyramid of black lava known as Mount Misery, 4330 feet 
high. Since emancipation it has borne the name of Mount 
Liberty. In its summit is a crater about one thousand feet 
deep, which has been long quiescent, and is now trans- 
formed into a lake fringed with trees. A sister summit. 
Monkey Hill, is nearly as high. One of the parasitic cones, 
known as Brimstone Hill, seven hundred and eighty feet 
high, is crowned by a citadel formerly called the Gibraltar 
of the West Indies, but now abandoned. 

The principal town, Basse-Terre, is situated on a beau- 
tiful curving inlet of the shore. The town from the sea 
presents a charming glimpse of red and white roofs nestled 
among tall trees, while gradual slopes covered with sugar- 
plantations and dotted with tall chimneys or groups of 
whitestone buildings appear behind the town. There are 
palms everywhere, cocoa-, fan-, and cabbage-palms ; many 
breadfruit trees, tamarinds, bananas, Indian fig-trees, 
mangos, and unfamiliar things the negroes call by incom- 
prehensible names — " sap-saps " and " dhool-dhools." 

Like all the English colonies, St. Kitts has excellent 
roads. There are several small villages throughout the 
island. The people, who call themselves Kittef onians, have 
many tidy, well-built wooden houses, arranged in neat 
streets, or surrounding a handsome square containing a 
wonderful banian-tree and many other beautiful plants. 
The population of about 31,900 is nearly all black or col- 
ored. The distinction between these classes is very marked 
and always insisted upon. Colored people may associate 
with whites upon terms of equality, but the negro is always 
reckoned as belonging to a servile race, and must keep an 
appropriate station. 

Sugar is practically the only export, and this industry 
is almost dead, the condition being very similar to that in 
Antigua. Reduction of labor and want of employment 



332 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

have caused great distress among the black laborers, who 
are unable to obtain holdings of their own, and in 1896 
there were serious riots. 

St. Kitts is known as the mother colony of the Caribbees. 
Here were founded the first French and English settlements, 
and from this point the southern islands were gradually 
peopled. The island was named St. Christopher by Colum- 
bus, but when it came into the possession of the English 
its name was changed to St. Kitts. The aboriginal name 
was Lia Minga. The Spaniards did not settle the island ; 
the English were the first to take possession, and they 
were followed shortly afterward by the French. At first 
the English and French divided the opposite ends between 
them, and the respective domains were marked by cactus 
hedges. Later the island underwent various attacks from 
the Spaniards and bucaneers, and suffered by warfare 
between the French and the English. In 1690 the English 
settlers, aided by the forces of their country brought in for 
the purpose, expelled the French. At present St. Kitts 
and Nevis form one British presidency under a single ad- 
ministration. 

Nevis, from a distance, appears, as said by Hearn, to be 
"floating like a cloud on the purplish dark edge of the 
sea." As one approaches, " the cloud shape enlarges and 
heightens, without changing contour, into a wonderful 
island." "Its outlines begin to sharpen, with faintest 
pencilings of color. Shadowy valleys appear, spectral hol- 
lows, phantom slopes of pallid blue or green. The appari- 
tion is so like a mirage that it is difficult to i^ersuade one's 
self that one is looking at real land — that it is not a dream. 
It seems to have shaped itself suddenly out of the glowing 
haze." It is a superb cone rising sheer from the sea to a 
height of 3460 feet, and flanked by secondary crests. 

This little island is one of the most charming and pic- 
turesque of all the Lesser Antilles. Although it is not in 
the regular route of steamers, it is reached by a half -hour's 
sail from St. Kitts. It was originally named Nievis by 




PUBLIC GARDEN 




ST. KITTS 



THE VOLCANIC CARIBBEES 333 

Columbus, in honor of " Our Lady of the Snow," but the 
English have corrupted it into " Nevis." It is famous as the 
birthplace of Alexander Hamilton, and in the old Fig-tree 
Church, a few miles from town, the register shows that 
Horatio Kelson, then a captain in the British navy, was 
married to Mrs. Fanny Nesbitt. 

The estimated present population is 13,700o The acre- 
age is 32,000, of which 6868 acres are cultivated. The 
precipitous nature of the surface prevents cultivation with 
the plow, so that all tillage is that of the spade. Here, 
as elsewhere in the British Caribbees, the black man has 
emigrated in search of employment, and the women greatly 
outnumber the men. 

Charlestown, the capital, has only a few hundred inhabi- 
tants, and hardly more than a single street stretching along 
the beach. The architecture is of the ancient period of 
English West Indian settlements, and embraces quaint old 
houses of stone with tiled roofs. General decay is notice- 
able. Whites are few, negroes many. In olden days this 
island was famous for its fertility and wealth, and Charles- 
town was the principal pleasure-resort of the West Indies, 
where wealth and fashion gathered to spend the season at 
the famous sulphur baths. These are a short distance from 
the town, where the ruins of an immense hotel, which might 
have accommodated several hundred guests, can be seen. 

Politically Nevis is really a part of St. Kitts, from which 
it is separated by fourteen miles of water, the channel 
being only twenty- six feet deep and scarcely two miles 
wide at its narrowest part. The two islands have daily 
communication by a steam ferry. Nevis, however, seems 
to be much better off than its neighbor, the difference 
being attributed to the fact that in the former island the 
negroes have no difficulty in obtaining land, which has 
been broken up and sold in small lots. Like the other 
British islands, Nevis is heavily charged with debts and 
ever-increasing expenditures, accompanied by a declining 
revenue. 



334 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

From Nevis one can see the summits of Montserrat, 
about forty miles southeast. This is the first and smallest 
of the middle islands of the chain — the larger beads of the 
graduated necklace. 

Montserrat was so named by Columbus in 1493, in mem- 
ory of a mountain in Spain similarly broken in appear- 
ance. It is small, its length being only eleven miles and 
its greatest width seven, with a total area of thirty-two 
and a half square miles. 

From St. Kitts southward the crater-like appearance of 
the Caribbees ceases, and Montserrat is of the rugged 
morne type of Martinique, with soufrieres, or secondary 
craterlets, nestled within the greater mass of old eroded 
volcanic material. It is a confusion of hills and mountains, 
the highest reaching three thousand feet. These are richly 
wooded, and their steeply sloping sides are gullied by deep 
ravines. The island is called the Montpellier of the West, 
because of the elasticity of its atmosphere, the pictur- 
esqueness of its hills, and its lovely scenery. The tem- 
perature varies according to height, and is generally cool 
and dry. 

Plymouth, the capital, like all the prominent towns of 
the Caribbees, is on the west or leeward side. It lies close 
to the sea-shore, backed by high hiUs and mountains, and 
is a collection of closely crowded two-story frame and 
stone houses with gabled roofs. 

The Englishman will tell you that Montserrat is histori- 
cally conspicuous from the fact that it has not suffered in 
the past to the same extent as the other islands from the 
brunt of the imperial wars, although, like the others, it was 
a bone of contention between the French and the English. 
It was settled by the English in 1632, occupied by the 
French in 1664, became English again in 1668, surrendered 
to the French in 1782, and returned to the English in 1784, 
since which it has been an English colony. To an Ameri- 
can this may appear a complicated history, but in compari- 



THE VOLCANIC OAEIBBEES 335 

son witli the vicissitudes of the other islands its career as 
a whole has been delightfully quiescent. Montserrat has 
also passed through all of the various changes leading to 
an English crown colony. It has a president, or, as he is 
now called, a commissioner, with the usual executive coun- 
cil, legislative council, etc., under the supervision of the 
general government of the Leeward Islands. 

It was peopled at the last census by 11,762 souls, but 
the number is now estimated at 12,500, and it is one of the 
most densely populated of the British Lesser Antilles. In 
former centuries the island had a large European popula- 
tion, but it is now mostly inhabited by negroes, who, 
strange to say, speak to this day with an Irish brogue, 
owing to the fact that the earlier settlers were of that race. 
A story is told of an Irishman who, on arriving at the 
island, was hailed in vernacular Irish by a negro from 
one of the boats that came alongside. " Thunder and turf ! " 
exclaimed the Irishman, " how long have yez been here ! " 
"Thray months," the black man answered. "Thray 
months ! and so black already ! Be the powers, I '11 not 
stay among yez ! " And the visitor returned, a sadder and 
wiser man, to his own Emerald Isle. 

Most of the negro peasants possess some land, and, while 
there is poverty, there is no distress. Between the years 
1882 and 1896 the value of its chief crop, sugar, fell off 
one half. The sugar-estates produce muscovado sugar 
only, and this is no longer in demand. But the British in 
the West Indies will tell you that Montserrat is distin- 
guished by the fact that it has largely survived the sugar 
desolation and branched out into new lines of agriculture, 
particularly the cultivation of limes. Arrowroot is also 
exported in small quantities, as well as essential oils. To 
my GJGS, however, there was no sign of what we call pros- 
perity in this country, where a condition similar to that of 
Montserrat would suggest only the '^ abandoned farms " of 
New England. The revenue, as elsewhere, is constantly 



336 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

falling off. Public works are being advanced and new roads 
built, but these only add to the taxation and suffering 
of the people. 

In November, 1896, a terrific storm of wind and rain 
wrought havoc and desolation over the island ; roads be- 
came roaring torrents, and valuable properties were de- 
stroyed by the floods. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

THE ISLANDS OF GUADELOUPE AND DOMINICA 

Government and resources of Guadeloupe. Basse-Terre. Grande- 
Terre. Maria Galante. Desirade. Les Saintes. Cities and towns 
of Guadeloupe. Dominica the beautiful. A fertile soU awaiting 
cultivation. 

FROM Montserrat the beautiful French island of Gua- 
deloupe is plainly seen, but the chances are ten to 
one that you cannot go to it without first returning to St. 
Thomas or New York, to get some other than an English 
line of steamers. A perpetual quarantine seems to exist 
between the French and English possessions, which renders 
communication between them difficult and oftentimes im- 
possible. 

Guadeloupe and Martinique are the two largest islands 
of the Caribbees and are owned by France. They are 
separated from each other, however, by the large English 
possession of Dominica, almost equaling either of them in 
size, and they have little in common, as each island consti- 
tutes a, distinct department of the republic of France. But 
these two large French islands are most picturesque and 
interesting. There is no appearance of that abject poverty 
and incessant begging which meet one at every turn in 
the English possessions. People have an air of thrift and 
self-respect, which finds expression in the cleanliness and 
the taste displayed in their dress, streets, houses, customs, 
and agricultural possessions. The reader who wishes to 

22 337 



338 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

know more about them than I can tell now should readOber's 
" Camps in the Caribbees," and Lafcadio Hearn's delightful 
book entitled " Two Years in the French West Indies." 

These French islands also excel the others in agricultural 
development, and in the midst of the general Caribbean 
industrial depression show at least some signs of vitality. 
Furthermore, each is populated by a wonderfully pictur- 
esque people, having costumes and habits which preserve 
as nearly as possible the old-time French colonial life of 
Haiti and Louisiana. 

Guadeloupe lies in latitude 15° IST. and longitude 
61° W., and has an area of five hundred and eighty-three 
square miles — more, in fact, than the combined area of 
all the small Caribbees thus far described. It consists of 
an archipelago, or rather one large double island with 
several small dependent ones ; for the main Guadeloupe is 
divided into two well-defined and entirely distinct islands 
by a marine strait known as the Riviere Salee, which is 
navigable for small sailing-vessels. 

The western half, known as Basse-Terre, is a rugged 
mass of old volcanic tuffs, like Martinique and Montserrat, 
surmounted by four superb cloud-capped mornes. These 
are known as Grosse Montague, Deux Mamelles, La Sou- 
friere, and the Caraibe, and rise 2370, 2540, 4900, and 2300 
feet respectively. Besides these there are dozens of smaller 
peaks, such as the Houlemont, less than 1800 feet high. 
The Soufriere was an active volcano in 1797, when it 
hurled forth dense ashes, pumice, and sulphurous vapors. 
In 1843 its convulsions shook the island and tumbled its 
towns into ruins. There is no record of more recent vol- 
canic action, but the many thermal springs and soufrieres 
emitting vapors and gases show that it is not altogether 
quiescent. Like all the volcanic Caribbees, the Basse- 
Terre is beautiful beyond description, its mornes and 
valleys, its steep coastal bluffs and mantle of vegetation, 
being especially fine. The forests are interspersed with 
valuable timber, but this is little worked. The mean 



THE ISLANDS OF GUADELOUPE AND DOMINICA 339 

temperature is 78° F., the rQinimum being 61° and the 
maxmum 101°. 

The eastern or windward island is known as the G-rande- 
Terre. Greologically it is entirely different from the 
Basse-Terre, belonging to the Anguillan type, previously 
described. It consists of a calcareous plain, some two 
or three hundred feet in height, which has been cut into 
numerous circular islands by erosion. The highest point 
on this island is only four hundred and fifty feet. This 
region is now the seat of extensive sugar-estates. The 
coast of Grande-Terre is constantly increasing through 
coral growth and the washing of the debris upon the 
shores. This consolidates and is quarried for building 
purposes. The process of consolidation goes on so rapidly 
that small objects are constantly embedded, and the supply 
for building renewed. The G-rande-Terre is almost a con- 
tinuous plain of sugar. 

Attached to Guadeloupe are several adjacent outlying 
islands— Maria Galante, Desirade, and Les Saintes. Maria 
Galante and Desirade are calcareous, like Grande-Terre, of 
the Anguillan type, but more largely made up of elevated 
coral-reef rock. The former is a few miles south of 
Guadeloupe. It is so terraced that it resembles an old 
Babylonian tower, surmounted by a plateau six hundred 
and seventy-five feet high. The island is forty miles in 
circumference and supports seventeen thousand people. 
Desirade lies to the east of Grande-Terre. It is a little 
island with a terraced platform, very similar to the round 
hills of the mainland. It is ten square miles in area and 
supports fourteen hundred people. Les Saintes, to the 
south of Basse-Terre, are fragmentary igneous rocks dis- 
posed in the same direction as the whole interior chain of 
the Caribbees. These picturesque islets culminate in La 
Chameau, altitude ten hundred and forty feet. They were 
once the health-resort of Guadeloupe, and their summits 
are crowned with old fortifications. The basin of the 
Saintes is still an important French naval station. 



340 CUBA AND POKTO RICO 

Guadeloupe was a Spanish possession until 1635, when 
it was taken by the French. Since then the island has 
several times changed hands, the English having captured 
it in 1794 and freed the slaves. In 1802, the island having 
been returned to France, together with Martinique, in 
exchange for St. Lucia, the French attempted to restore 
slavery ; but, rather than return to their masters, many of 
the people committed suicide, four hundred under Delgris 
having blown themselves up at one time, in a fortification. 
Over ten thousand blacks were killed or transported, and 
thousands sent to the Napoleonic wars in Italy. England 
again captured the island, in 1810, during Napoleon's brief 
reign of one hundred days, but afterward returned it to 
France. In 1848 emancipation was declared. 

Communication is carried on entirely by highways and 
coasting- vessels. All over this double island are the best 
of roads, some of which lead up to the woods that border 
on the gloomy crater of the quiescent volcano. Here, as 
well as in the sister colony of Martinique, will be noted 
the thrift and good management of the French. The peo- 
ple go from place to place afoot, or in quaint French 
vehicles like those seen in the mountainous portions of 
France. There are no railways, nor have any American 
inventions been introduced into Guadeloupe. 

While Guadeloupe is agriculturally more prosperous 
than the British colonies, it nevertheless presents signs of 
the universal decay which has overtaken the Caribbee 
Islands. Sugar is the chief agricultural product, and is 
grown upon 502 properties, employing 42,000 people. The 
sugar industry is much more economically conducted than 
in the British islands, through a system of central usines. 
There are numerous coif ee-plantations in Guadeloupe. The 
coffee and sugar interests do not conflict, for coffee is 
grown on the highlands and sugar on the lower plains. 
The cultivation of coffee employs 4936 people. In all 
there are 62,760 acres in sugar, 86,485 acres in coffee, and 
4037 in cocoa. France consumes most of the products of 



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THE ISLANDS OF GUADELOUPE AND DOMINICA 341 

Gruadeloupe, although there is an extensive trade with the 
United States and G-reat Britain. 

Gruadeloupe is a department of France. The government 
consists of a governor and his council, and a general legis- 
lative assembly of thirty members. The jurisdiction em- 
braces the islands of Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Maria 
G-alante, Desirade, Les Saintes, and half of St. Martin, pre- 
viously mentioned. The colony is divided into arrondisse- 
ments, cantons, and communes. The municipal councils 
are framed on the French model, and the department is 
represented in the French chambers by one senator and 
two deputies. The revenue and expenditure of the island 
each amounted to $1,305,000 in 1897. France, further- 
more, expended $403,000 on the colony. No specie is in 
circulation — only notes of the bank of Guadeloupe. They 
read, " Redeemable upon presentation in specie." No ex- 
change is obtainable with the United States, and only a 
limited exchange with Paris, at a premium of ten per cent, 
for a draft of one hundred and twenty days. There are 
ninety-seven elementary schools, with 11,000 pupils ; also 
one lycee^ with 350 pupils. The imports for 1896 amounted 
to $5,490,148 ; the exports, $4,700,000. One fourth of the 
value of the imports in 1895 was from the United States, 
but the island products went to France. 

Point-a-Pitre (population 17,100) is the principal seaport, 
and is situated on the windward side of Basse-Terre. The 
present town is new, but stands on a site where older 
buildings have been destroyed by fire, earthquakes, and 
hurricanes. It is laid out in broad streets with public 
squares, and contains many large buildings with high 
gabled roofs. There is an interesting museum containing 
specimens of the animals and archaeological remains of the 
island. The city has many official buildings, a cathedral, 
a market-place, and some beautiful gardens. Point-a-Pitre 
has suffered many disasters, especially a terrible earthquake 
in 1843. 

Le Moule, on the east side of Grande-Terre, is as large 



342 CUBA AND POKTO KICO 

as Point-a-Pitre, There are many small villages, like 
Porte d'Enfer, and Grand Bourg, the capital of Maria 
Galante. 

The population of the main island in 1894 was 107,000, 
three fourths of whom were colored people and blacks. 
There were also 15,000 coolies. These people are largely 
French mulattos, of a type which will be more fully dis- 
cussed in our description of Martinique. 

Dominica stands between the two French islands of 
Guadeloupe and Martinique, almost rivaling them in size, 
and is the largest of the British Caribbees. The island is 
twenty-nine miles long, sixteen miles broad, and has an 
area of two hundred and ninety- one square miles. It 
presents the same magnificent scenery as all the Carib- 
bees, in fact exceeding them in the loftiness of its mornes 
and the beauty of its vegetation ; for here is found the high- 
est summit of the island chain, known as Morne Diabloten, 
5314 feet high. From the top of this the scenery is terrible 
in its grandeur, yet enchanting in its beautj^ A little 
sulphur occurs in old soufrieres in the mornes, and there 
are several thermal springs, but there are no true or 
recent volcanic craters. There is a beautiful old crater- 
lake, however, about 2500 feet lower than Morne Diablo- 
ten, which, until recently, was still flooded by boiling water 
from springs bubbling up from the bottom, and every five 
minutes upheaving in a foaming geyser. In 1880, how- 
ever, land- slips took place, and much of the water es- 
caped, the lake having thereby been greatly diminished in 
area. Within a short distance from the margin it is not 
less than three hundred feet deep. 

The island is noted for the quantity of its rainfall. The 
temperature ranges from 70° in spring, winter, and au- 
tumn, to 80° in summer. The exports are cattle, cocoa, 
lime-juice, rum, molasses, and sugar. 

Dominica has one miserable little town called Roseau, 
picturesquely situated upon its western side. It is at the 
foot of the mountains, where they drop into the sea, while 



THE ISLANDS OF GUADELOUPE AND DOMINICA 343 

a river comes rushing and roaring down the hills through 
a, rugged and broken ravine behind it. The streets are 
long and spacious and regularly paved, and there is one 
large square or promenade, used also as a market-place. 
These streets are now deserted by commerce, however, and 
the government officials hold court in a community of 
blacks. There are French Catholic and English churches, 
a well-kept botanical garden, and a public library. 

The population of the island in 1891 was 26,841, or 1370 
less than in 1881. The people are mostly black, descen- / 
dants of the slaves of the days when Dominica was a pros- ) 
perous French colony, and they still speak a French patois..-' 
These, together with the white Dominicans, are mainly 
French Catholic, and still loo k upon jhe^ritish owners as 
foreigners. The people live almost entirely within a mile 
or two of the coast, and there are no roads into the 
interior. 

One of the two surviving groups of Caribs, or aborigines 
of these islands, is not the least interesting part of the 
Dominican population. These people, about three hun- 
dred in number, are now largely mixed with the blacks. 
They inhabit the mountains of the interior, and make their 
livelihood by weaving a peculiar basket which is univer- 
sally used in the island for carrying baggage. 

The soil of Dominica is a rich brown mold reeking with 
dense vegetation, and is capable of growing any tropical 
produce ; and yet, while all but 60,000 of the 186,240 acres 
are crown lands, which the blacks would gladly till if they 
could acquire small holdings, agriculture is rapidly dying. 
There were once many fine sugar-plantations, especially 
those on the Grand Savanna, twelve miles from Eoseau. 
In the last fifteen years the exports of sugar, rum, and 
molasses have fallen from seventy-one to fifteen per cent, 
of the total value of the exports, which in 1896 were valued 
at $232,750. In the other islands the sugar industry has 
managed to struggle along, but the Dominican planters 
have practically given up the struggle. As Froude has 



344 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

stated, its government has struck the island with paraly- 
sis, and the contrast it presents with its French neighbors 
from an economic standpoint cannot be flattering to Great 
Britain's pride. 

The laboring people have largely migrated to Venezuela 
and to Cayenne. At the docks of both this island and 
St. Lucia, England's other French possession, schooners 
can always be found loading with black emigrants. Form- 
erly the slopes of Dominica were covered with coffee-trees, 
but this industry has practically disappeared. In 1843 
there was as much as 1,333,000 pounds of coffee, besides 
rum, sugar, and molasses. The coffee-culture even reached 
2,500,000 pounds in 1828. Now the whole of this industry 
has vanished, except a few trees set out within recent 
years. Faint attempts are being made to increase the pro- 
duction of cocoa, limes, and lime-juice, as well as of essen- 
tial oils. 

Dominica was discovered and named by Columbus on a 
certain Sunday in the year 1493. In 1627 the English 
took possession of the island, but could not settle it on 
account of the Caribs. In 1748 the treaty of Aix-la- 
Chapelle made the island neutral territory between the 
French and English, but it became a French island in 
jDopulation, although treaties have twice since awarded it 
to England. In the final settlement between England and 
France after the imperial wars. Great Britain followed the 
advice of Rodney and retained this island, so situated 
between the French possessions of Guadeloupe and Mar- 
tinique that its loss would greatly debilitate the French 
power in the West Indies. 

Dominica is a presidency within the general government 
of the Leeward Island federation. The president, or com- 
missioner, has an executive council of seven members; 
traces of the old constitutional rights still exist in the fact 
that there is a legislative assembly. The revenues, as in 
all of the English islands, do not equal the expenditures, 
and taxes are increasing. 



CHAPTER XXXII 

THE ISLAND OF MAETINIQUE 

Beauty of its landscape. A description of the forests. History and 
present economic condition. The city of St. Pierre. Botanical 
gardens. Fort-de-France. The fantastic population. 

WHILE the ship is still passing in the shadows of lofty 
Dominica, the passenger can see the mornes of Mar- 
tinique rising from the vast expanse of sea to the south- 
ward. Martinique is the most picturesque in outline and 
the most interesting of all these wonderful Caribbees— the 
central bead in the great necklace that encircles the throat 
of the Caribbean Sea, and the most prosperous of these 
unhappy isles. Some one has given to the island the poeti- 
cal name of "Les Pays des Eevenants, where nature's 
unspeakable spell bewitches wandering souls like the spell 
of a Circe." 

This islcvud is second in size only to Guadeloupe, having 
an area of three hundred and eighty-one square miles. It 
is completely mountainous, culminating in the peak of 
Mount Pelee, 4450 feet high. This is usually wrapped in 
clouds, but 1 ow and then it can be seen, and its vast flanks 
sweep in steep but graceful slopes to the sea. Another 
peak near the south end is 3950 feet high, while the three- 
crested Carbet, near the northern coast, rises nearly to the 
altitude of Mount Pelee. 

Every inch of this magic island, except where man has 
made temporary clearings, is draped in forests— forests 

345 



346 CUBA AND POETO KICO 

which cannot be described, photographed, or painted. The 
following description by Dr. E. Euiz gives only a faint 
idea of the island's wonders : 

Only the sea can afford us any term of comparison for the attempt 
to describe a grand hois; but even then one must imagine the sea 
on a day of storm, suddenly hnmobilized in the expression of its 
mightiest fuiy. For the summits of these vast woods repeat all 
the inequalities of the land they cover; and these inequalities 
are mountains from forty-two to forty-eight hundred feet in 
height, and vaUeys of corresponding profundity. All this is hid- 
den, blended together, smoothed over by verdure, in soft and 
enormous undulations, in immense billowings of foliage. Only, 
instead of a blue line at the horizon, you have a green hne ; instead 
of flashings of blue, you have flashings of green, and in all the 
tints, in all the combinations of which green is capable— deep 
green, hght green, yellow-green, black-green. 

"When your eyes grow weary— if it indeed be possible for them 
to weary— of contemplating the exterior of these tremendous 
woods, try to penetrate a little into their interior. What an inex- 
tricable chaos it is ! The sands of a sea are not more closely 
pressed together than the trees are here— some straight, some 
curved, some upright, some topphng, fallen, or leaning against 
one another, or heaped high upon each other. Chmbing hanas, 
which cross from one tree to the other, like ropes passing from 
mast to mast, help to fill up all the gaps in this treillage ; and 
parasites— not timid parasites like ivy or like moss, but parasites 
which are trees self -grafted upon trees— dominate the primitive 
trunks, overwhelm them, usurp the place of their foliage, and fall 
back to the ground, forming fictitious weeping-willows. You do 
not find here, as in the great forests of the North, the eternal 
monotony of birch and fir : this is the kingdom of infinite variety ; 
species the most diverse elbow each other, interlace, strangle and 
devour each other; all ranks and orders are confounded, as in a 
human mob. The soft and tender haUsier opens its parasol of 
leaves beside the gommier, which is the cedar of the colonies ; you 
see the acorn at, the coiirharil, the mahogany, the tendre-d-caillou, 
the iron wood ; . . . but as well enumerate by name all the soldiers 
of an army ! Our oak, the balata, forces the palm to lengthen 
itself prodigiously in order to get a few thin beams of sunlight ; 



THE ISLAND OF MARTINIQUE 347 

for it is as difficult here for the poor trees to obtain one glance 
from this king of the world, as for us, subjects of a monarchy, to 
obtain one look from our monarch. As for the soil, it is needless 
to think of looking at it : it lies as far below us, probably, as the 
bottom of the sea ; it disappeared, ever so long ago, under the 
heaping of debris, under a sort of manure that has been accu- 
mulating there since the creation ; you sink into it as into slime ; 
you walk upon putrefied trunks, in a dust that has no name ! 
Here, indeed, it is that one can get some comprehension of what 
vegetable antiquity signifies : a lurid light {hirida lux), greenish, 
as wan at noon as the light of the moon at midnight, confuses 
forms and lends them a vague and fantastic aspect ; a mephitic 
humidity exhales from all parts ; an odor of death prevails ; and a 
calm which is not silence (for the ear fancies it can hear the great 
movement of composition and of decomposition perpetually going 
on) tends to inspire you with that old mysterious horror which the 
ancients felt in the primitive forests of Germany and of Gaul : 

"Arboribus suus horror inest." 

Among the trees are the silk-cotton, species of mahogany, 
and the caleta, or ironwood, a very strong wood. The flora 
is numerous, and closely related to that of the equatorial 
zone of South America. The fauna abounds in minor 
reptiles and insects. There are various kinds of fish and 
of crab. The manicon and a certain lizard are eaten. The 
only animal of note is the vicious serpent known as the 
f er-de-lance, which lurks in the woods, the cane-fields, and 
the gardens, and whose fatal bite is the only thing upon the 
island to be dreaded. This snake is from four and a half 
to seven feet long, has four fangs, at the root of which is 
secreted the virus, and rudimentary fangs to take the 
place of the old ones. The mongoos was introduced ten 
years ago to exterminate the fer-de-lance, but it has not 
been successful. 

The climate shows three seasons — cool in spring, hot and 
dry in summer, and hot and wet in autumn and part of 
winter. The thermometer runs from 76° to 86°, rarely 
88°, but there is much humidity. The tropical heat is 



348 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

mitigated by the sea-breezes and fresh winds from the 
mountains. Violent hurricanes and earthquakes some- 
times occur. 

The ishmd has no deep harbors, although there are three 
indentations which afford good shelter. The principal of 
these is the Bay of Fort-de-France, the capital of the island, 
and the headquarters of the French admiralty in the West 
Indies. On the soiith side are the Grrande'Anse du Dia- 
mante and the Bay du Marin ; on the west there are several 
other small coves. The eastern side is a dangerous shore, 
where the Atlantic breakers roar and foam in a grand and 
indescribable surf, which prohibits approach to land. 

Martinique was originally settled by the French in 1665, 
and with the exception of twenty-two years, between 1794 
and 1816, when it was held by the English, it has always 
been French. It is now a favored colony of France, con- 
stituting a department of the republic, with a governor and 
excellent administration, sending a senator and two depu- 
ties to the National Assembly at Paris. 

The imports for 1896 aggregated about $5,721,000, and 
the exports about $5,358,000. In 1895-96 the United 
States sent $1,502,332 worth of goods to the island. The 
food- stuffs of the United States are absolutely necessary 
to the life of the colony, but the United States takes almost 
nothing from Martinique in return. Sugar, coffee, cocoa, 
tobacco, cotton, and rum are the principal products, and 
all the plantations producing these are in a flourishing 
state in comparison with those of the adjacent British 
islands. There are seventeen large central usines, and 
upward of five hundred ordinary sugar-works. 

One fourth the revenue of the island ($1,342,000) is 
devoted to education. There is a law school at Fort- de- 
France, with seventy-six students. There are three secon- 
dary schools, with four hundred and eighty- seven pupils ; a 
normal school ; thirty-eight primarj^ schools, with ten thou- 
sand pupils; and thirteen clerical and private schools. 
There are also two government hospitals, military and 








LANDING, ST. PIERRE 




ST. PIERRE 



MARTINIQUE 



THE ISLAND OF MARTINIQUE 349 

civil, and the charge for a native in the last is twenty-five 
cents a day. At the two prisons the discipline is very 
mild. France also encourages agriculture by giving a 
bounty of ten cents for every coffee- and cocoa- tree. This 
is to prevent the exclusive cultivation of the sugar-cane. 
There is also a colonial bank, the object of which is to assist 
the planters ; experts determine the value of crops, and 
the bank advances one third their value. If the obliga-- 
tion is not met by the crops, the bank carries over its 
claim on the valuation of the next year's crop. 

An excellent system of highways has reduced the diffi- 
culty of traveling across the rugged island. Transporta- 
tion is also carried on by small coasting-vessels, although 
on the eastern side of the island this is especially difficult, 
as the cargoes have to be carried through the surf on the 
backs of men, or pushed by swimming negroes in small 
boats through the water. 

France has always nurtured this colony with a tender, 
loving hand, giving it the best of administrations, helping 
it freely when in distress, and protecting its industries 
wherever possible. In 1896 she assisted it to the extent of 
$659,500. 

The large towns are St. Pierre and Fort-de-France, on the 
leeward side, and Grrande Anse, on the windward shore. 
St. Pierre, on the west side (population 25,382), is the prin- 
cipal city. It is built on cliffs overlooking the bay of the 
same name, which is nothing more than a very slight curve 
in the shore-line, vessels having to anchor in the open 
roadstead. It is a picturesque and beautiful place, with 
neat public buildings and an interesting Creole population. 
The town has a handsome cathedral and other public 
buildings. Hearn thus describes it : 

The quaintest, queerest, and the prettiest withal, among West 
Indian cities ; all stone-built and stone-flagged, with very narrow 
streets, wooden or zinc awnings, and peaked roofs of red tUe, 
pierced by gabled dormers. Most of the buildings are painted in 



350 CUBA AND POKTO KICO 

a clear yellow tone, which contrasts delightfully with the burning' 
blue ribbon of tropical sky above ; and no street is absolutely level ; 
nearly all of them climb hOIs, descend into hollows, curve, twist, 
describe sudden angles. There is everywhere a loud murmur of 
running water, pouring through the deep gutters contrived be- 
tween the paved thoroughfare and the absurd little sidewalks, 
varying in width from one to three feet. The architecture is that 
of the seventeenth century, and reminds one of the antiquated 
French quarter of New Orleans. All the tints, the forms, the 
vistas, would seem to have been especially selected or designed for 
aquarelle studies. The windows are frameless openings without 
glass ; some have iron bars ; all have heavy wooden shutters with 
movable slats, through which light and air can enter. 

The tov^n has an aspect of great solidity, looking as if it 
had been liewn out of one mountain fragment instead of 
constructed stone by stone. Although commonly consist- 
ing of only two stories and an attic, the dwellings have 
walls three feet in thickness. There are also many foun- 
tains throughout the city, carrying drinking-water, which 
comes from another source than that of the water in the 
gutters. The main street is known as Rue Victor Hugo. 

St. Pierre has many images and some fine statues. One 
of the latter, standing on a height and easily visible from 
the sea, is a gigantic " Christ," which overlooks the bay ; a 
great white "Virgin" surmounts the Morne d'Orange, to 
the south of the city, while " Our Mother of the Watch " 
overlooks the anchorage. There is a great white cathedral 
with a superb chime of bells. Behind the city is a beau- 
tiful cemetery. 

The market of St. Pierre is most picturesque. It is in 
the middle of a square surrounding a fountain, and filled 
with countrywomen dressed in gorgeous Oriental colors, 
selling their little products,— oranges, bananas, vanilla- 
beans, cocoa,— while the fishermen lift their boats bodily 
out of the water and convert them into stalls, where can be 
seen a most wonderful fish display, rivaling in colors the 
tints of the rainbow, and having a hundred queer French 



THE ISLAND OF MARTINIQUE 351 

names, which it is useless to repeat here, such as the Bon- 
Die-manie-moin (" The good God handled me "), etc. 

A fine road leads from St. Pierre to the village of Mon 
Rouge, situated two thousand feet above the sea. In the 
village is a shrine to the Virgin, which is visited by the 
inhabitants. Along this road are many shrines and little 
chapels with crucifixes and statues, with lamps burning 
before them. This road leads by the beautiful botanical 
garden, and passes many fine and solid stone bridges. 

The Jardin des Plantes is one of the famous places of the 
world, although now somewhat neglected and overrun by 
the native foliage. One of Hearn's most beautiful word- 
pictures is that which he gives of this lovely spot : 

The Jardin des Plantes is not absolutely secure from the visits 
of the serpent ; for the trigonocephalus goes everywhere, mount- 
ing to the very summits of the cocoa-palms, swimming rivers, 
ascending waUs, hiding in palm-thatched roofs, breeding in ba- 
gasse-heaps. But, despite what has been printed to the contrary, 
this reptile fears man and hates light; it rarely shows itself 
voluntarily during the day. Therefore, if you desire to obtain 
some conception of the magnificence of Martinique vegetation, 
without incurring the risk of entering the high woods, you can do 
so by visiting the Jardin des Plantes, only taking care to use 
your eyes weU while climbing over fallen trees or picking your 
way through dead branches. The garden is less than a mile from 
the city, on the slopes of the Morne Parnasse ; and the primitive 
forest itself has been utilized in the formation of it, so that the 
greater part of the garden is a primitive growth. Nature has 
accomplished here infinitely more than art of man (though such 
art has done much to lend the place its charm), and until within 
a very recent time the result might have been deemed, without 
exaggeration, one of the wonders of the world. . . . 

A moment after passing the gate you are in twilight, though 
the sun may be blinding on the white road without. All about 
you is a green gloaming, up through which you see immense 
trunks rising. ... As you proceed, the garden on your right 
deepens more and more into a sort of ravine ; on your left rises 
a sort of foliage-shrouded clifi ; and all this in a beautiful crepus- 



352 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

ciilar dimness, made by the foliage of great trees meeting overhead. 
Pahns rooted a hundred feet below you hold their heads a hundred 
feet above you ; yet they can barely reach the light. . . . Farther 
on the ravine widens to frame in two tiny lakes, dotted with arti- 
ficial islands, which are miniatures of Martinique, Guadeloupe, 
and Dominica. These are covered with tropical plants, many of 
which are total strangers even here ; they are natives of India, 
Senegambia, Algeria, and the most eastern East. Arborescent 
ferns of unfamihar elegance curve up from path- verge or lake- 
brink, and the great arhre-du-voyageur outspreads its colossal fan. 
Giant lianas drooj) down over the way in loops and festoons ; 
tapering green cords, which are creepers descending to take root, 
hang everywhere ; and parasites with stems thick as cables coil 
about the trees like boas. Trunks shooting up out of sight, into 
the green wilderness above, display no bark ; you cannot guess 
what sort of trees they are ; they are so thickly wrapped in creep- 
ers as to seem pillars of leaves. Between you and the sky, where 
everything is fighting for sun, there is an almost unbroken vault 
of leaves, a cloudy green confusion in which nothing particular is 
distinguishable. 

You come to breaks now and then in the green steep to your 
left— openings created for cascades pouring down from one mossed 
basin of brown stone to another, or gaps occupied by flights of 
stone steps, green with mosses, and chocolate-colored by age. 
These steps lead to loftier paths ; and all the stonework, — the 
grottoes, bridges, basins, terraces, steps, — are darkened by time and 
velveted with mossj^ things. ... It is of another century, this 
garden ; special ordinances were passed concerning it during the 
French Revolution ; it is very quaint ; it suggests an art spirit as 
old as Versailles, or older; but it is indescribably beautiful even 
now. 

... At last you near the end, to hear the roar of falling water 
—there is a break in the vault of green above the bed of a river 
below you ; and at a sudden turn you come in sight of the cascade. 
Before you is the Morne itself ; and against the burst of descend- 
ing light you discern a precipice- verge. Over it, down one green 
furrow in its brow, tumbles the rolling foam of a cataract, like 
falling smoke, to be caught below in a succession of moss-covered 
basins. The first clear leap of the water is nearly seventy 
feet. . , . Did Josephine ever rest upon that shadowed bench 





FILLE DE COULEUR 



FRENCH NEGRESS 





NEGRO WOMAN 



MULATTO GIRL 



TYPES OF WOMEN, MARTINIQUE 



THE ISLAND OF MAETINIQUE 353 

near by ? . . . She knew 'all these paths by heart ; surely they 
must have haunted her dreams in the aftertime ! 

The beautiful garden is now little more than a wreck of what it 
once was ; since the fall of the empire it has been shamefully 
abused and neglected. Some agronome, sent out to take charge of 
it by the republic, began its destruction by cutting down acres of 
enormous and magnificent trees, — including a superb alley of 
palms,— for the purpose of experimenting with roses. But the 
rose-trees would not be cultivated there, and the serpents avenged 
the demolition by making the experimental garden unsafe to 
enter; they alwaj^s swarm into underbrush and shrubbery after 
forest-trees have been cleared away. . . . Subsequently the garden 
was greatly damaged by storms and torrential rains ; the moun- 
tain river overflowed, carrying bridges away and demolishing 
stonework. No attempt was made to repair these destructions; 
but neglect alone would not have ruined the loveliness of the place 
—barbarism was necessary! Under the present negro-radical 
regime, orders have been given for the wanton destruction of trees 
older than the colony itself; and marvels that could not be re- 
placed in a hundred generations were cut down and converted into 
charcoal for the use of public institutions. 

The capital, Fort-de-France, formerly Fort Royal, is 
situated on a beautiful but shallov^ bay near the south end 
of the west side of the island. The town, though secon- 
dary in commercial importance to St. Pierre, is the military 
center and arsenal of the French Antilles, the rendezvous 
of the navy, the terminus of the French transatlantic 
steamships and West Indian cable system. It was half 
ruined by an earthquake in 1839, and nearly consumed by 
a fire in 1890. After the last event the inhabitants offered 
a bounty of fifty per cent, of the value of the old buildings 
to help rebuild, and eight hundred thousand dollars has 
been thus spent. Among the several interesting statues 
adorning its public gardens the most noted is that of the 
Empress Josephine, erected by the people of the island in 
honor of her nativity. 

Throughout the island there are many little villages, 
such as Le Montine, Petit Bourg, Le Francois. Grande 

23 



354 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

Anse is situated across the high mountain ranges, and is 
reached by a picturesque road from St. Pierre, which rises 
into the higher passes, and is shaded by tree-ferns, accom- 
panied by graceful bamboo and arborescent grass. It is 
in a region of black stones, out of which the houses are 
built. Black volcanic boulders dot the hillsides, and even 
the sands of the beach are black, and full of valuable 
magnetic iron. The village is a small place, principally 
noted for the wonderful expertness of its men in swim- 
ming the breakers, and for the beauty of its female por- 
teuses — young girls who carry burdens upon their heads. 
At Diamond Eock there is the tomb of the commander of 
one of the English ships, and the remains of the cistern 
which furnished the English with water while the rock was 
fortified by them in 1844. 

Not less interesting than the natural features are the in- 
habitants of this island, distinguished by beauty, thrift, and 
a remarkable and peculiar individuality. In 1895 they 
numbered nearly five hundred to the square mile, aggre- 
gating 187,692 people, most of whom, except 1307, were 
either blacks or members of that remarkable mixed race 
which distinguishes the island. The mixed populations 
show every variety of color and type,— mulattos, copre, 
chabin, and mates, — but they are generally healthy and 
thri^dng. Traces of Caribbean blood are seen in their 
color, physiognomy, and physical characteristics. Hearn 
thus describes the population of Martinique: 

Fantastic, astonishing— a population of the "Arabian Nights." 
It is many-colored, but the general dominant tint is yellow. . . . 
Straight as palms, and supple and tall, these colored women and 
men impress one powerfully by their dignified carriage and easy 
elegance of movement. All, or nearly all, are without shoes. . . . 
Perhaps the most novel impression of all is that produced by the 
singularity and brilliancy of certain of the women's costumes. 
Some of these fashions suggest the Orient ; they offer beautiful 
audacities of color contrast ; and the f ull-di*ess coiffure, above all, 
is most striking. It is an immense Madras handkerchief, which is 



THE ISLAND OP MARTINIQUE 355 

folded about the head with admirable art, like a turban; one 
bright end, pushed through at the top in front, being left sticking 
up like a plume. Then this turban, always full of bright canary- 
color, is fastened with golden brooches, one in front and one at 
either side. As for the remainder of the dress, it is simple enough : 
an embroidered, low-cut chemise with sleeves ; a skirt, or jupe, 
very long behind, but caught up and fastened in front below the 
breasts, so as to bring the hem everywhere to a level with the end 
of the long chemise ; and finally a foulard, or silken kerchief, thrown 
over the shoulders. These jupes and foulards, however, are ex- 
quisite in pattern and color : bright crimson, bright yellow, bright 
blue, bright green, lilac, violet, rose, sometimes mingled in 
plaidings or checkerings or stripings ; black with orange, sky-blue 
with purple. And whatever be the colors of the costume, which 
vary astonishingly, the coiffure must be yellow— brilliant, flashing 
yellow; the turban is certain to have yellow stripes or yellow 
squares. To this display add the effect of costly and curious 
jewelry : immense ear-rings, each pendant being formed of five gold 
cylinders joined together, cylinders sometimes two inches long 
and an inch at least in circumference ; a necklace of one or many 
rows of large, hollow gold beads, called collier-choux. 

But few are thus richly attired ; the greater number of the 
women, carrying burdens on their heads,— peddling vegetables, 
cakes, fruit, ready-cooked food, from door to door, — are very sim- 
ply dressed in a single plain robe of vivid colors {douillette), reach- 
ing from neck to feet, and made with a train, but generally girded 
well up so as to sit close to the figure and leave the lower limbs 
partly bare and perfectly free. These women can walk all day 
long up and down hill in the hot sun, without shoes, carrying 
loads of from one hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds on 
their heads ; and if their little stock sometimes fails to come up to 
the accustomed weight, stones are added to make it heavy enough. 
With the women the load is very seldom steadied with the hand. 
The head remains almost motionless ; but the black, quick, pier- 
cing eyes flash into every window and doorway to watch for a 
customer's signal. These women also carry the produce across 
mountain from plantation to seaport. 

Cornilliac ascribes the wonderful beauty of the Mar- 
tinique women to the admixture of Carib blood with that 



356 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

of the Europeans and blacks. Both men and women are 
often so perfect anatomically that the artist wishing to 
create a " Mercury " or " Venus " need only take a cast of 
such a body, without making one modification from neck 
to heel. 

There is great love of the mother-country among all 
classes. This is due to the liberty of the press and politi- 
cal freedom. Laborers in Martinique receive wages of from 
fifteen to nineteen cents a day; house-servants $1.52 to 
$2.87 a month; mechanics seventy-six to ninety-five 
cents a day ; and bookkeepers from $43 to $55 a month. 
The women do most of the hard work. 




PLANTATIONS NEAR SOUTH END 




ONE OF THE PITONS 



ST. LUCIA 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

ST. LUCIA, ST. VINCENT, THE GRENADINES, AND GRENADA 

England's stronghold in the West Indies. The Pitons. Agricultural de- 
pression. Recollections of Rodney. 

ST, LUCIA was the Ste. Alouise of the French. This 
" wildly beautiful island," as it is called by Montgom- 
ery Martin, lies twenty-four miles south of Martinique and 
twenty-one miles northeast of St. Vincent. It has the same 
rugged aspect as the other large Caribbees, but is noted as 
one of the loveliest, if not the loveliest, in the chain of 
islands to which it belongs. It is forty-two miles long, 
twenty miles broad, has a coast-line of one hundred and 
fifty miles, and embraces two hundred and thirty-three 
square miles. Like Gruadeloupe, Montserrat, Dominica, 
and Martinique, it is a mass of high mornes, with steep 
bluffs along the sea and steep acclivities leading up to the 
cloud-wrapped summits, the highest of which. La Sou- 
friere, at the south end of the island, is four thousand feet 
in altitude. Near by there is another mountain, the Piton 
des Canaris, three thousand feet high. Other high sum- 
mits occur along the entire length of the island, but are 
always wrapped in a silky veil of mist. The so-called 
" crater " of the Soufriere is about one thousand feet up 
the mountain. It is composed of old volcanic tuff and 
cinder, coated with sulphur, and contains a few boiling 
springs. 
Of all the examples of the wonderful acute configuration 

357 



358 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

of the Caribbees, the Pitons, at the southern end of St. 
Lucia, are the most remarkable. These are two immense 
pointed peaks which rise from the sea-level like great 
dragons' teeth to 2720 and 2680 feet respectively, seeming 
as vertical as the peaks of the Matterhorn. Their slopes 
are fully sixty degrees, and they are covered densely by 
vegetation. These peculiar forms are not craters, but may 
be old volcanic stocks. The beautiful coves and bays are 
also very picturesque ; dense forests, fertile valleys, ver- 
dant plains, frowning precipices, lively rivers, and deep 
ravines, the whole covered by a perfect mass of deciduous 
vegetation, make up the wonderful landscape. 

The vegetation and climate are very similar to those of 
Martinique. In fact, St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, 
Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe), and Mojitserrat are all so much 
alike in configuration, climate, and vegetation, that I can- 
not recall a single distinguishing feature on any of them.. 
They constitute the summits of a continuous mountain — 
a great sierra made up of the same masses of old volcanic 
tuffs and basalts, just as one of the long sierras of our 
Southwest deserts would appear if its lower passes were 
fl.ooded. 

St. Lucia, like Dominica and Martinique, is a French 
island which has several times passed into English pos- 
session, finally becoming a permanent holding of the Eng- 
lish after the imperial wars, on account of its excellent 
harbor. It is now under the general government of the 
Windward Islands, with a local legislative council, and is 
the strictest pattern of a crown colony, which has the 
usual excellent administrative features, accompanied by 
high taxation and economic decay. There are thirty- 
seven primary schools in the island, but a great drawback 
to educational progress is the French patois spoken by the 
natives. 

The soil, like that of all the other Caribbees, is rich 
beyond description ; one third of the island is covered with 
superb forests, inhabited, like those of Martinique, by the 



ST. LUCIA, ST. VINCENT, THE GEENADINES, AND GRENADA 359 

deadly fer-de-lance. Agriculturally St. Lucia shows the 
same depression everywhere visible in the English islands. 
The sugar industry has almost been eliminated within the 
last ten years. Only a small portion of the total cultivable 
acreage is under cultivation. The forty-six thousand 
black inhabitants, who are French in speech and habit, live 
largely on such pickings as they can gather from the coal- 
ing of ships, public works, and their little yam-patches. 
Many of them leave the island to seek employment in 
Cayenne and other places. The revenues are not sufficient 
to meet the expenditures, and the high taxes are already 
more than the people can meet. Sugar-planting is dying 
out, and this beautiful island, once as fair as Martinique, 
will soon sink into the economic condition of Dominica. 

St. Lucia is chiefly noted for possessing the only deep 
harbor, except St. Thomas and Trinidad, in the Lesser 
Antilles, and for being the only one of the Caribbee Islands 
which has a completely protected landlocked basin, where 
ships can go alongside a dock. This is an oblong bay 
surrounded on all sides by high hills, upon which England 
is mounting some of the strongest batteries in the world. 
The town of Castries is a small place built on made ground 
on the interior side of the harbor, at the foot of its steep 
surrounding hills. It looks quite diminutive in compari- 
son with the overtowering natural surroundings. Its 
population seems to consist mostly of negro women, who 
coal the passing ships. There is a handsome market-house, 
a pretty botanical garden, and a comfortable reading-room 
and library. The whites all live upon the highlands 
around the harbor, the low grounds being considered un- 
healthful. 

For the past few years England has been making a most 
formidable naval station here, and the American Jingo 
press has often called attention to it. Castries is also the 
chief coaling-station of the British navy in the West Indies, 
and the imperial troops are to be concentrated here and in 
Jamaica. 



360 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

The waters off this island are famous to all Englishmen 
as the scene of what they consider one of the greatest bat- 
tles of all naval history, although they have never given it 
a name other than " Eodney's victory." As our ship passed 
by these waters, every Briton hung over the rail with in- 
tense interest, recalling this great conflict which took place 
on April 12, 1782, between Admiral Rodney and the French 
admiral De Grasse. This battle, which is fully described 
in Captain Mahan's book, was really one of the decisive 
events of the world's history, for it not only reduced the 
French to a secondary position in the West Indies, but 
established England's great position as a modern sea- 
power. Furthermore, it saved Jamaica to England, and 
the circumstances leading up to it indirectly freed the 
American colonies, for had not England been so occupied 
during the American Revolution with her struggles against 
the French in the West Indies, which were then considered 
of so much greater value than the American colonies, there 
is little doubt that our own cause would have been lost. 
In the English mind this victory, which occurred simul- 
taneously with the surrender of Yorktown, completely 
overshadowed the latter event. 

In the peace that followed St. Lucia became a British 
possession, but the erstwhile French citizens made things 
lively for their new masters. In a revolution they recov- 
ered the whole of the island with the exception of two mil- 
itary posts, and it required Lord Abercrombie with twelve 
thousand British soldiers to restore quiet. 

The whole southern half of the Caribbean circle is Eng- 
lish, — St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grenada are three of a 
kind, — while the little Grenadines are largely uninhabited 
islets. 

It has been said that four islands among the Caribbees 
realize one's ideals — Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, 
and St. Vincent. "The first is grand and gloomy; the 
second is somber in its mountains, but breaks out into 
smiling tracts of cultivated land ; the third combines the 





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GEORGETOWN 




KINGSTOWN 

ST, VINCENT 



ST. LUCIA, ST. VINCENT, THE GEENADINES, AND GRENADA 361 

features of the first two and adds the element of a large 
and picturesque population ; while St. Vincent has all the 
natural wonders and beauties of the other three, and a cer- 
tain air of delicate culture which is entirely its own." 
Furthermore, it is an agreeable place to spend a week or 
two. 

St. Vincent is a single island with no outlying rocks or 
islets. It is seventeen miles long and ten miles broad, with 
an area of one hundred and thirty- one square miles, and a 
population of nearly fifty thousand people. A ridge of 
mountains passes along the middle through its whole 
length, the highest of which, the Soufriere, is at the north 
extremity. Its scenery is slightly different from that of the 
other Caribbees. There are more extensive open views,— 
slopes and valleys, — while vast areas of more recent cinder 
and lava indicate that later volcanic action has taken place. 

The island culminates in the vast crater of Morne Garon, 
which was the scene of a tremendous eruption in 1812, 
when the earthquakes which for two years had terrified 
the West Indian region and the South American coast cul- 
minated in an explosion which was a most devastating and 
far-reaching cataclysm, being rivaled within recent years 
only by the explosion of Krakatau, in the Straits of Sunda. 
In Caracas ten thousand people were buried in a single 
moment, and ruin was wrought along the entire line of the 
Andes by earthquakes accompanying the event. The 
Soufriere of St. Vincent vomited vast clouds of dust, which 
darkened the sun for an entire day and spread over a hun- 
dred miles of sea and land. This eruption changed the 
configuration of the island and destroyed its eastern end. 
The present crater, formed at that time, is a half-mile in 
diameter and five hundred feet deep, and is now a beauti- 
ful l^ke walled in by ragged cliffs to a height of eight hun- 
dred feet. Since 1812 the volcanic forces have been quies- 
cent, and nature has repaired the ruin and made the island 
more beautiful than ever. 

Kingstown, the capital, with about eight thousand in- 



362 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

habitants, is on tlie southwest side, the town stretching 
along a lovely bay, with mountains gradually rising behind 
in the form of an amphitheater. Its red-roofed houses and 
a few fine stone structures show picturesquely through the 
palm- groves. Behind these are the governor's house and 
botanical buildings, overlooking the town. Three streets, 
broad and lined with good houses, front the water. On 
these are stone buildings occupied as a police station and 
government stores. There are many other intersecting 
highways, some of which lead back to the foot-hills, from 
which good roads ascend the mountains. 

In St. Vincent we meet the same story of the decay of 
the sugar industry ; here it is on the verge of extinction. 
No improvements have been introduced in the manufacture, 
and the canes have in recent years suffered severely from 
disease. No industry has taken its place. Arrowroot is 
next in importance to sugar, but its price has also declined, 
adding to the depression. It is grown in fields which are 
planted like Indian corn when sown for fodder. When 
matured it is dug up and taken to a mill, where the roots 
are broken off, ground, washed, and strained, and the mass 
allowed to settle for a few days. The product is then 
placed on wire frames with different-sized meshes to dry. 
It gradually sifts down through these, and is then barreled 
for shipment. In recent years it has brought about five 
dollars a barrel, or eight cents per pound; formerly it 
brought from forty to sixty cents. 

Wages are very low and constantly being reduced, and 
there is a lamentable want of employment even at the 
price of less than a shilling a day for able-bodied men, 
who are constantly emigrating, leaving the women and 
children to shift for themselves. There are few Caribs 
remaining in St. Vincent, the remnant of a large number 
that lived here until 1796, when Great Britain deported 
five thousand of them to the coast of Honduras. 

Between St. Vincent and Grenada, instead of open water, 
we find several hundred little rocky islands, all disposed 




MARKET 

ST. VINCENT 



ST. LUCIA, ST. VINCENT, THE GEENADINES, AND GRENADA 363 

in the trend of the larger Caribbees, but offering an end- 
less variety in shape and configuration. Kingsley has 
summarized their essential features as follows : 

On leaving St. Vincent, the track lies past the Grenadines. For 
sixty miles, long low islands of quaint forms and euphonious 
names— Becquia, Mustique, Canonau, Carriacou, lie de Rhone- 
rise a few hundred feet out of the unfathomable sea, bare of wood, 
edged with cliffs and streaks of red and gray rock, resembling, 
says Dr. Davy, the Cyclades of the Grecian Archipelago; their 
number is counted at three hundred. The largest of them all is 
not eight thousand acres in extent, the smallest about six hundred. 
A quiet, prosperous race of little yeomen, besides a few planters, 
dwell there; the latter feeding and exporting much stock, the 
former much provisions, and both troubhng themselves less than of 
yore with sugar and cotton. They build coasting- vessels, and trade 
with them to the larger islands ; and they might be, it is said, if 
they chose, much richer than they are— if that be any good to them. 

The steamer does not stop at any of these little sea-hermitages, 
so that we could only watch their shores ; and they were worth 
watching. They had been, plainly, sea-gnawn for countless ages, 
and may, at some remote time, have been all joined in one long 
ragged chine of hills, the highest about one thousand feet. They 
seem to be, for the most part, made up of marls and limestones, 
with trap-dikes and other igneous matters here and there. And 
one could not help entertaining the fancy that they were a speci- 
men of what the other islands were once, or at least would have 
been now, had not each of them had its volcanic vents to pUe up 
hard lavas thousands of feet aloft, above the marine strata, and so 
consolidate each ragged chine of submerged mountain into one 
solid conical island, like St. Vincent at their northern end, and at 
their southern end that beautiful Grenada to which we were fast 
approaching, and which we reached, on our outward voyage, at 
nightfall, running in toward a narrow gap of moon-lit cliffs, be- 
yond which we could discern the hghts of a town. 

The beautiful island of Grenada is the most southern of 
the Caribbean chain. It is eighteen miles long and seven 
miles broad, and contains one hundred and thirty-three 
square miles— two more than St. Vincent. It is surmounted 



364 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

by lofty volcanic craters, among which is a picturesque 
lake more than two miles in circumference and thii'ty-two 
hundred feet above the sea. The capital, St. George, has 
a fine harbor with a walled fort, and pretty houses and 
churches situated on the hillsides. In the northwest are 
successive piles of conical hills or continuous ridges cov- 
ered with vast forest-trees and brushwood. There are 
many fertile valleys interspersed with numerous rivulets. 

Grenada is the most British of all the British islands, 
for, although owned by France until 1762, it has flown the 
English flag since then. The island is the capital or head- 
quarters of the Windward government, which comprises 
the colonies of St. Lucia, St. Vincent, the Grenadines, and 
Grenada, and has all the charms of British of&cial colo- 
nial society. Here also we hear the cry of the good old 
days that are no more, and the lamentations of the decay 
that is. Sugar, for which the island was once famous, is 
now grown only in sufficient quantities to supply the 
natives with cane to chew or rum to drink, less than one 
hundred thousand dollars' worth being exported annually. 
Cocoa is the chief product, but this is falling off in price. 
The expenditures are increasing on account of enlarged 
educational institutions and public works— roads, bridges, 
and water-works, which the English must always have. 

The population in 1891 numbered fifty-four thousand, 
or four hundred and fifteen to the square mile, of whom at 
least four fifths are a contented lot of negro peasantry, 
owning their own homes and growing their little crops of 
yams and sweet potatoes. Like St. Vincent, it presents 
more open country interspersed between the rugged moun- 
tains than is found in the northern Caribbees, and is of a 
more recent volcanic character. The English will tell you 
that it is the loveliest of all the islands ; but this is told of 
them all. 

The island is a delightful spot, and the English proprie- 
tors a hospitable people. If the reader should visit the 
tropics, a brief stay here would be weU rewarded. 




ST. GEORGE'S HARBOR 




ST. GEORGE 



GEENADA 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

THE SOUTH AMERICAN ISLANDS 

Trinidad, Tobago, and Curasao. The peculiar geographical features of 
Trinidad. Port of Spain. Political conditions. Population and peo- 
ple. The island of Tobago. CuraQao, the capital of the Dutch West 
Indies. 

GEENADA is the most southern of the Caribbean chain. 
The other islands of the Lesser Antilles to the south- 
ward, and adjacent to the north coast of South America, 
are, in their natural features, fragments of the latter con- 
tinent which have become detached from the mainland by 
the processes of time. They are continental in their diver- 
sity, and, were they not insular in outline, they would be 
considered as belonging to the South American rather than 
the West Indian realm. Only a few words can be said 
concerning them. 

These islands succeed one another in elongated arrange- 
ment like those of the other greater groups, but trend in 
an east-and-west direction, parallel to the adjacent con- 
tinental coast, extending through seven degrees of longi- 
tude, from Tobago, on the east, to the rocky islets known as 
the Monks, at the entrance to the great Gulf of Maracaibo, 
on the west. 

Of this group Trinidad is by far the largest and most 
interesting, although Tobago, Margarita, Tortuga, Los 

365 



366 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

Roques, Buen Ayre, Curasao, and Oruba are of consider- 
able size, each possessing an area only a little less tlian 
that of the average Caribbee. Here, too, is multiplicity of 
nationalities. Tobago and Trinidad are British; Buen 
Ayre and Curasao Dutch ; and most of the others, which 
are not worthy of further mention, are Venezuelan. 

Trinidad lies just south of the eastern end of the main 
chain of South American islands. It is separated from the 
main continent by the Gulf of Paria, which has two outlets 
on the south and northwest, known as the Mouth of the 
Serpent and the Mouth of the Dragon respectively, which 
are only a few miles wide, and across which the mainland 
is plainly visible. Trinidad is merely a severed fragment 
of the mainland, having exactly the same relations to it 
that Long Island has to the adjacent coast of New York 
and New England. 

The island is quadrangular in outline and embraces an 
area of 1754 square miles — nearly as large as all the Carib- 
bee Islands combined. The volcanic appearance which 
marks the configuration of the Caribbee Islands is missing, 
and Trinidad resembles the continent. It is crossed in 
east-and-west directions by great mountain ranges with 
rivers and lakes, and is diversified by beautiful plains and 
valleys. On the east it faces the Atlantic, the straight 
north shore lies against the Caribbean Sea, while to the 
west there is the great bulb- shaped Gulf of Paria. These 
waters, instead of being bright blue, are a muddy yellow, 
filled with sediments from the adjacent land. There are a 
few low wooded islands in this gulf. The equatorial cur- 
rent, as it passes from the Atlantic into the Gulf, rushes 
with great velocity through the Serpent's Mouth, 

Trinidad has been called Great Britain's loveliest West 
Indian colony, but there is nothing "West Indian about it. 
It is thoroughly South American. The flora, rocks, ani- 
mals, and geology all partake of the adjacent Cumana 
peninsula, and it should be considered in the same cate- 
gory as British Guiana. 




PUBLIC OFFICES 




PORT OF SPAIN 
TEINIDAD 



THE SOUTH AMEKICAN ISLANDS 367 

The capital and chief city of the island is Port of Spain, 
situated on a beautiful harbor facing the Grulf of Paria, 
which, were it not for its shallowness, would hold the 
shipping of the world. The larger vessels are loaded by 
lighters. It was into this harbor that Columbus first came, 
when he named the island Trinidad, in fulfilment of a vow 
he had made to the Holy Trinity. The city is elevated 
about four hundred feet above the level of the sea, from 
which it is some six miles distant, and is a pretty, hilly 
town of about twenty thousand inhabitants. It is a curi- 
ous combination of English, French, and Spanish build- 
ings, arranged on broad streets and with many squares or 
plazas. Street-cars traverse the chief avenues. The city 
has been made somewhat unattractive by numerous fires ; 
some of these have been very extensive, especially those 
of 1884 and 1891. The governor's house, as in all the 
English colonies, stands in large grounds out of town, at 
the foot of the mountains. It is surrounded by beautiful 
botanical gardens, which are especially rich in nutmeg-, 
cinnamon-, and other spice-trees, and every known species 
of palm-tree. Immense ceibas, almonds, and orange-trees 
also ornament the grounds. 

It is said that, owing to its exposure to the combined 
breezes of the sea and mountain, with a most delicious 
climate. Port of Spain is a very healthful place, while its 
situation in a rich and fertile country, its extended views, 
the beauty of its women, and the hospitality of its inhabi- 
tants, make it a most attractive town. To this place 
come eighteen steamers a month from England, six from 
the United States (four steamers of the French line, two 
of the Quebec), and two from Holland ; and there are seven 
steamers to Venezuela. There is also an extensive carry- 
ing-trade between Port of Spain and Venezuela. Gold 
and other products of the country are reshipped from Trini- 
dad to Europe, and goods from Europe are sent to Trini- 
dad for distribution in Venezuela. 

There are several smaller places, Princestown and San 



368 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

Fernando being the most notable. La Brea is the shipping- 
place of the Trinidad asphalt. 

The Spaniards robbed the island of its inhabitants in 
the earlier centuries and made them slaves. In the second 
century of its discovery Sir "Walter Raleigh touched at the 
island and tarred his ships with the black asphalt found 
native here, which now supplies the pavement-material for 
so many American cities. Two centuries of conflict be- 
tween England, France, and Spain ensued (in which the 
natives suffered the most), until 1797, when the English 
came into permanent possession. Trinidad is historically 
interesting as the place where Cortez parted from Governor 
Velasquez, with all the vessels and men fitted out for the 
conquest of Mexico. 

Politically, Trinidad is another British colony, with its 
governor, staff, and legislature, constituting a distinct 
government from the other West Indies. Like other Brit- 
ish colonial governments, it has good roads, good police, 
good schools, good public works and institutions of aU 
kinds, together with high taxation and a large public debt. 
There are two colleges and one hundred and ninety-eight 
public schools. There are fifty-four and a quarter miles of 
railway in operation on the island, and thirty more in 
process of construction. These are owned by the govern- 
ment. 

The principal exports are fifty thousand tons of sugar 
yearly, cocoa, Angostura bitters (of which rum is the 
basis), molasses, asphalt, and cocoanuts, valued at $9,819,- 
244, of which one half the value is for sugar. The exports 
of asphalt to the United States in 1897 amounted to 109,- 
243 tons. 

About one fourth of the soil is cultivated. A majority 
of the sugar-estates are provided with modern machinery, 
while the Usine St. Madeleine is the largest sugar-factory 
in the British West Indies. The Agricultural Society and 
Chamber of Commerce declare the sugar industry to be 
" undoubtedly in danger of extinction." 



THE SOUTH AMERICAN ISLANDS 369 

One of the chief sources of value to Trinidad is the 
asphalt lake, which supplies the material for American 
pavements. This is a plain of one hundred acres more or 
less, situated about sixty miles south of Port of Spain. 
The lake has a black surface, with inky pools of soft bitu- 
men and spots of yellow bubbles and water- cracks. The 
surface is yielding, and a strong odor of sulphureted hy- 
drogen prevails. Anything more black and repulsive can 
hardly be imagined. It has been likened to a vast asphalt 
pavement with many holes filled with inky waters in 
which swim ugly fish and black beetles. When pieces of 
pitch are taken from the lake, nature at once begins to re- 
pair the damage, and in twenty-four hours the hole is filled 
again. The tract is leased by the government to an 
American asphalt company for forty-one years, and yields 
a revenue of $142,500 a year to the government. The 
company has established machinery near the lake to crush 
and purify the pitch, which comes from the lake in carts. 
It is formed in blocks, packed in barrels or transported in 
bulk by elevated trolleys direct to the ships at La Brea. 

The population of Trinidad is two hundred and forty- 
five thousand people, and it is a medley of English, French, 
Spaniards, negroes, and coolies. T^eJEnglish^go th to 
maj£a_ffl£ney^_and,goJbLome., again. Old families have but 
few representatives left. The Caribbean natives have long 
since vanished, and negroes and East India coolies have 
taken their place, and now constitute four fifths of the 
population. 

The chief laboring element of Trinidad are the coolies, 
of whom there are ninety-eight thousand upon the island. 
They are brought from Hindustan, under contract, at the 
expense of the colony, and under care of the government 
agents. They are apprenticed to owners for five years. 
The Hindus are of low caste and do not amalgamate with 
the blacks. They dwell by themselves in little huts of a 
peculiar type, and maintain their own dress, priests, and 
religious ceremonials. Rice, cassava-roots, and fruits sup- 



370 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

ply their scanty meals. They are bound by law to work 
nine hours a day for two hundred and eighty days in the 
year, and receive a regular rate of wages, usually less than 
sixpence a day. The law concerning this apprenticed 
labor is very strongly enforced both upon the coolie and 
his employer. Each estate employing coolies is obliged to 
provide hospitals under the inspection of medical visitors, 
and all the labor arrangements are subject to the inspec- 
tion of government agents, who visit the estates constantly 
and report each week to the agent-general of immigrants ; 
he in turn reports to the governor, who has absolute au- 
thority to cancel the contract and remove any and all the 
coolies from an estate. When the time of indenture is 
ended the coolie is entitled to transportation back to his 
native land. In lieu thereof he can make a new contract 
for a year, or he can remain and work wherever he chooses, 
and receive the amount of his return passage in cash. He 
is also allowed the option of a government grant of ten 
acres of land instead of return passage-money. Low as 
their wages are, most of them accumulate considerable 
sums, which are often converted into silver bracelets and 
bangles for the arms and ankles of their women, who thus 
preserve the family treasure. Some have settled perma- 
nently^ on the island, and others have returned for a second 
term of service, bringing friends and relatives with them. 
The system is a good one for the country, and it may be 
remarked that it is similar to that which prevailed in Vir- 
ginia, South Carolina, Georg:ia, and Jamaica before the 
American Revolution, when the poor people of England 
were similarly apprenticed to Southern planters. 

There is a steady flow of negro population from the other 
British West Indies to Trinidad, especially from St. Vin- 
cent and Barbados. 

Tobago, about seventy miles to the southeast of Grenada, 
is the most eastern island of the South American group. 
Its area is one hundred and fourteen square miles, and 
it is diversified with hills and vales, and is equal in rich- 





COOLIE HOUSES 

TRINIDAD 



THE SOUTH AMERICAN ISLANDS 371 

ness of production to the other islands. Two thirds of 
Tobago are still covered with primeval forest, comprising 
many varieties of hard-wood and ornamental trees. The 
climate is remarkably healthful, and the air very fine and 
pure. The scenery is beautiful, and delightful rides can be 
taken. Horses can be easily obtained at very moderate 
charges. 

This is another island where the former heavy produc- 
tion of sugar has ceased. The people, since the great col- 
lapse in sugar in 1885, have taken to diversified agriculture 
and the raising of sheep and horses. Tobacco and cotton 
have been lately introduced. 

Tobago's welfare is intimately associated with that of 
Trinidad, the two islands being politically and commer- 
cially connected. The only place of importance is the 
little town of Scarborough. 

The only other island of the South American group 
worthy of present mention is Cura9ao— that quaint frag- 
ment of old Holland located on the southern border of the 
Caribbean. Nearly five hundred miles west of Trinidad, 
and just off the western part of the northern coast of 
Venezuela, it is the capital of the few square miles of 
America owned by Holland in widely disseminated frag- 
ments at the extremes of the Lesser Antilles. 

The island embraces two hundred and ten miles of rugged 
topography, composed of volcanic rocks surrounded by 
coral reefs. Some of the twenty-eight thousand inhabi- 
tants grow beans, corn, cattle, and salt, but most of them 
are engaged in commerce or office-holding. They are by 
no means wealthy. The Dutch Creoles are a fair-skinned 
and pleasant people who speak Dutch, French, and English, 
but the negroes have a queer dialect known as the papai- 
mento. 

Willemstad, the capital of the island, has an excellent 
harbor. It is a quaint old Dutch city, suggestive of what 
New York may have been two hundred years ago. Its 
substantial buildings include the colonial offices, for Wil- 



372 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 

lemstad is the residence of the governor of all the West 
Indian Dutch islands, including Saba, St. Eustatius, and 
the half of St. Martin, three hundred miles away, and the 
adjacent islands of Oruba and Buen Ayre. He has his 
staff and council and army, and the gezagJiebhers, or chiefs, 
of all the other islands report to him. 

Curasao does a large business with Venezuela, largely 
through smugglers, who take the goods to the mainland. 
The cordial made of orange-peel and known as Curasao is 
not made on the island, but in Holland, although it is the 
favorite island drink. 

The remaining islands of this group, of which Margarita 
is the largest, are rocky, dry, and arid, and of little com- 
mercial or economic importance. 




PUBLIC LIBRARY, BRIDGETOWN 




«„ 


=J^=^^ 








i 



LAUNDRESSES 



TURNING THE WINDMILL 



BARBADOS 



CHAPTER XXXV 

BARBADOS 

Insular position of the island. The coralline origin of its soils. Govern- 
ment and economic conditions. The Barbadians. Density of poptda- 
tion. The struggle for existence. 

STANDING- alone in tlie Atlantic Ocean, one hundred 
and twenty-five miles east of the Caribbean chain, is 
Barbados, which might as well be located in the Indian Ocean 
or the China Sea so far as the resemblance of its natural 
features to the other West Indian Islands is concerned. It 
is as solitary as the Bermudas or Azores, and in its social 
and cultural aspects is equally anomalous. Furthermore, 
although much has been said in prose and poetry of the 
coral islands of the West Indies, this is the only one exten- 
sively populated by man which may be said to be of that 
origin, with the exception of Grande-Terre (Guadeloupe), 
and its dependencies of Desirade and Maria Galante. 

The island resembles a pear in outline (the narrow end 
of which points to the north), and is slightly concave on 
the east. There are no outlying islands, as many suppose, 
probably owing to the final letter of the name of the island, 
which suggests plurality. Its area is one hundred and 
sixty-six square miles. 

In configuration the island is elevated, and yet not moun- 
tainous, the highest point, near the center. Mount Hillaby, 
being eleven hundred feet, from which the land descends 
in a series of low terraces on all sides to the sea. So gen- 
tle are the hills that as one drives to the summit over the 

373 



374 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

well-built roads tlie ascent is scarcely noticeable. The 
aspect of the country is that of a beautiful rural landscape, 
with innumerable sugar-fields, interspersed with groups of 
neat houses and plantations surrounded by gardens and 
trees, while ancient Dutch windmills may be seen in every 
direction cleaving the air with their gigantic arms. 

In geological composition the island is unique. It con- 
sists of a nucleus of folded and crumpled clays and gravel 
of Eocene age, like the older sedimentaries of the Antilles, 
derived from some unknown land of the past, accompanied 
by thick layers of white marl and radiolarian earth of 
deep oceanic origin. Over the whole, like the rind of a 
melon, there is a thick veneering of calcareous coral rock, 
made up of gigantic coral heads consisting of reefs like 
those now growing around the island, which have been 
gradually elevated to their present height above the 
waters. This old reef rock is everywhere except in the 
limited Scotland district on the east side, where it has 
been worn away. It is never over one hundred feet thick. 
The highways are cut through these coral reefs ; the stone 
houses are constructed of them ; the planter plows into 
their surface to grow his cane. The beautiful natural ter- 
races everywhere so conspicuous are the edges of these 
elevated reefs. 

The climate of the island is delicious. The trade-winds 
blowing across the vast expanse of the ocean bring an air 
of crystalline purity, which has been fittingly compared to 
champagne. The rainfall is ample, but not excessive. 

The principal city and only port is Bridgetown, on the 
leeward or western side; a pretty place, with churches, 
public buildings, gigantic warehouses, shops, some hand- 
some residences, clubs, and many neat little houses of the 
lower classes, besides pleasure-grounds, a handsome mili- 
tary parade, seaside drives, and exquisite beaches. There 
is also a good library, an interior view of which is shown 
in an illustration. 

There is no harbor, although shallow-draft schooners 



BAEBADOS d75 

may enter a small creek ; but before the city lies a beauti- 
ful roadstead, where can be seen lying at anchor a host of 
sailing-vessels, old-time brigs, frigates, ships, and modern 
schooners, presenting a sight which is rarely seen in these 
days when steam has so largely supplanted sailing-craft. 

The place is a central port of call and repair for all the 
sailing-craft of the South Atlantic, as well as for many 
steamship lines. Above all, it is the headquarters of the 
Royal Mail Steamship Company. The Royal Mail is the 
pride of every English heart in the West Indies— the great 
artery of communication that keeps the islands in touch 
with the mother-country. It is a glorious sight on every 
other Saturday, when five great steamers of this line 
anchor in the roadstead— one from England, one going 
home from Colon and Jamaica, and three supplementary 
steamers that go up and down the Caribbees to St. Thomas 
on the north, Trinidad on the south, and Demerara on the 
east. They are usually crowded with English tourists, 
who come out to see these beautiful islands and review the 
scenes of England's past colonial and naval glories. 

Like Jamaica, the Bahamas, the Leeward Islands, the 
"Windward Islands, and Trinidad, Barbados is an indepen- 
dent colony, with its governor and legislature and all the 
excellent features of colonial administration. The religion 
is chiefly that of the Church of England, although other 
denominations are represented. There is one little railroad 
about twenty miles long, which carries the passengers 
through vast sugar-fields to the east coast, and then follows 
the rocky shores of the latter into the Scotland district. 
This road is a narrow-gage affair with a diminutive engine, 
which is fired with a common house-shovel. Grood high- 
ways extend throughout the island. 

The economic condition of Barbados, like its natural 
aspects, is different from that of any other colony in the 
West Indies. There is substantially but one industry, one 
product, and one export, that of sugar ; nor does the island 
appear to be suited for the growth of any other product on 



376 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

a scale of commercial importance. There are no large 
central factories, the estates are small, and the mills, in 
most cases, are primitive, a large proportion of them being 
ancient windmills; but the sugar industry has survived 
because of the superior care with which the cultivation of 
the cane is carried on, the exceeding richness of the juice 
of the cane, and the cheapness of labor. If cane were cul- 
tivated as carefully in Cuba as it is in Barbados, the former 
island would be capable of supplying the world with sugar. 
The whole area of the island is occupied, and of its total 
acreage of 106,470, every foot is under cultivation, except 
6-470 acres occupied by towns, cliffs, or highways. There 
are no crown lands, no forests, and the population has 
probably reached the maximum which the island can sup- 
port, even in favorable circumstances. 

Nowhere are the resources of nature so closely garnered 
as here. Not a thing goes to waste ; even when one darky 
ejects a mouthful of cane-fiber after extracting the juice, 
his follower on the roadside picks up the mass to save it 
for fuel ; the negroes brave the billows in boats which no 
white man could sail, and perform the apparently impos- 
sible task of catching by thousands the flying-fish— an ani- 
mal which seems especially adapted to avoid man's cunning. 

Barbados has but one other resource besides the sugar 
industry, and that is the presence of tourists in the winter 
and the shipping-men who touch there. 

The imports of the island greatly exceed the exports ; in 
1896 the former amounted to $4,982,208.50, and the latter 
to $3,603,953.25. Many of the sugar-estates are being 
carried on under governmental aid. The island is chiefly 
dependent upon the United States for its food-supplies 
and mules (from Kentucky) for the estates, and we prac- 
tically consume the whole of its sugar product. The mili- 
tary establishment has also been the means of distributing 
some $237,500 per annum, but as the government intends 
transferring the troops to St. Lucia, the welfare of the 
island will be still further reduced. 




STREET SCENE, BRIDGETOWN 




LANDING WHARF, BRIDGETOWN 
BAEBADOS 



BAKBADOS 377 

The only mineral product of Barbados is " man jack," 
a form of asphalt which occurs in the older rocks of the 
Scotland district. During the last two years a few experi- 
mental shipments have been made to Boston by the Ameri- 
can owners. 

The radiolarian earth is a splendid abrasive material 
which could be used in the arts, but no one has thought 
of shipping it. 

Barbados is in many respects an ideal place for those in 
search of a restful tropical spot. A large hotel for Ameri- 
can tourists is open during the winter months, while on 
the eastern side of the island are some charming country 
inns at Bathsheba and Cranes Point, well kept in the Eng- 
lish style. In winter many visitors come here. The Eng- 
lish of Trinidad and Gruiana seek the place as a health- 
resort. Each fortnightly ship of the Royal Mail from 
Great Britain brings hundreds of English tourists who 
come out to see the colonies; and it is seldom that an 
American yachting-party or man-of-war cannot be found 
in the roadstead. Excellent carriages are everywhere 
available for driving, while the sea-shore and bathing are 
as beautiful as could be desired. 

It is an interesting historical fact that the only foreign 
trip ever taken by George Washington was made to this 
island in 1752, in company with his brother Lawrence, who 
was an invalid. Here the " Father of his Country " enjoyed 
the hospitality of the island, and also had the small-pox. 
It was a pleasure to revisit the scenes which he had de- 
scribed in his diary, especially the old Christ's Church, 
which now stands almost as he saw it. 

The whites of Barbados are descended from people who 
were blood-relations of our Virginia colonists, and there are 
the same family names which are met with in Virginia. 
Before the Revolution there was an intimate communica- 
tion between the relatives of the two distant colonies, and 
frequent visits were made. 

The inhabitants of Barbados number 186,000, averaging 



378 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

1120 to the square mile, the most densely populated coun- 
try in the world to be found outside of China. There are 
many white families, numbering altogether 20,000 persons, 
most of whom have for generations looked upon Barbados 
as their home ; the attachment of these people to the island 
and the traditions of the past is exceedingly strong. The 
island has been settled for so long, and so many generations 
have lived side by side, that a general understanding ap- 
pears to have grown up of the respective habits and 
requirements of the different classes. The whites are out- 
numbered by the blacks in the proportion of over eight to 
one, and such blacks as cannot be seen elsewhere. 

The Barbadian blacks have evolved into a distinct race, 
well marked by a physiognomy and dialect which can be 
recognized wherever seen. They are especially noted for 
their large and rotund heads, accompanied by open coun- 
tenances and pleasant features. To the credit of the Eng- 
lishman it can be said that the effects of miscegenation are 
hardly visible upon the island, and that the African race 
seems to have been preserved in all its opaque purity. In 
dress the Barbadians differ from the other West Indian 
Islanders, the costumes of the men being neat suits of 
white cotton,— coat, shirt, and trousers,— while the univer- 
sal costume of the women is also pure white, accompanied 
by a neatly folded head-dress. Their clothing is stiffly 
starched with cassava. Shoes are worn only to church. 
Obiism seems to have almost disappeared from among 
these black people in Barbados, and most of them can read 
and write. 

Before the ship has dropped its anchor in the offing, a 
mile from shore, it is surrounded by hundreds of these 
people in boats. They are passed masters in the art of at- 
tracting the attention of the stranger, and scramble with a 
good-natured ferocity for his patronage. A rowboat hav- 
ing been selected from the crowd, the journey to the 
wharves begins. As these are approached they are seen to 
be a living mass of black humanity, and almost as soon as 



K 
ft- 

W 

b 
I— I 

O 
O 




BARBADOS 379 

he is within ear-shot the passenger is assailed by a clamor 
of voices begging the privilege of carrying his baggage. As 
you land upon the mall they beg, cajole, and grab you, 
until in sheer desperation you sit down upon your trunk, 
and with a cane defy the imploring mob. Then they 
laugh at you, and defy you to strike them, grinningly be- 
seeching a blow. " I wish you would hit me, massa ; I '11 
take the law on you, sah." You soon learn that there is no 
viciousness on the island. You are merely witnessing the 
struggle for existence, which is keener here than anywhere 
else in the world. Everywhere you go upon the island 
you meet the grinning faces of these blacks, who stop you 
upon the road, and, after securing your attention with a 
salute both gracious and flattering, politely inform you 
that they would " t'ank you for a penny, sah." 

This island is one of the few places in the world where 
human labor is so cheap that it competes with the beast of 
burden. On the densely crowded commercial streets of 
Bridgetown may be seen great drays loaded with mer- 
chandise, sugar-hogsheads, or lumber. In some instances 
these are drawn by teams of Kentucky mules, while near by 
is a vehicle of the same character pulled by a sweating 
team of human beings. Yet never have I seen a people 
who were withal so cheerful and good-natured ; with them 
the very struggle for existence seems to have increased 
their cheerfulness and good-natured impudence, and in no 
manner to have quenched their spirits. 

Notwithstanding the fact that the island is now devel- 
oped to its fullest capacity, these people are so attached to 
it that they can hardly be forced to leave, and are as proud 
of their nationality as if they were citizens of some great 
country. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 

GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE WEST INDIES 

General paucity of mineral resources. Iron. Manganese. Salt. Phos- 
phate. Sulphur. Asphaltum. Pecuhar geological history of the 
region. Its bearing upon the myth of Atlantis. 

THE reader may have noted the brevity of my remarks 
concerning the mineral resources of the West Indies. 
In general it may be stated that these islands are poor in 
those products of the rocks which are useful to mankind. 
No mineral fuels of any kind are found, unless rock 
asphalt (which is used in Cuba for the manufacture of 
gas, and in Barbados for running a locomotive) may be 
so considered. 

The precious metals are found only in the Great An- 
tilles, and even there they are restricted to Cuba and 
Santo Domingo, and it is doubtful if they occur in paying 
quantities in either of these. Copper is found in the 
same islands, but also in doubtful quantities. But two 
metallic ores are known to occur in quantity, iron and 
manganese. These occur in eastern Cuba in great purity 
and large quantity, and have been or are the source of 
much value. There is every reason to believe that similar 
ores may be found in Haiti and San Domingo. Salt, 
which in these islands is more a product of the sea than 
of the land, is worked for profit in Cuba, Turks Island, 
Anguilla, St. Martin, and perhaps other places. Sulphur 
is known to occur in the soufrieres of the Caribbee 
Islands, but it is probably not in great quantities or com- 

380 






h^ ' 









GEOLOGICAL FEATUKES OF THE WEST INDIES 381 

mercially accessible, for the exports have never been con- 
siderable. 

Asphalt may be said to rank next to iron as the chief 
mineral product. This occurs in Cuba, Santo Domingo, 
Barbados, and Trinidad. The Cuban kind is of a superior 
quality for the purpose of making varnishes. The Bar- 
badian "manjack" is also a species of rock asphalt valu- 
able in the arts. In Trinidad alone, however, does this 
material occur in any great abundance. Pitch Lake being 
the greatest asphalt-producer in the world. While build- 
ing-stone, good enough for local uses, is abundant in all 
the islands, they are singularly void of ornamental export 
rock. Closely textured marbles and sandstones are 
unknown. In the backbone of the Antillean Mountains 
in the two larger islands there are some fine granitoid 
rocks, but no commercial development has been made of 
them. 

Many hypotheses have been advanced in literature 
concerning the origin of the West Indian Islands. Some 
have believed that the Caribbees and Bahamas represent 
the remnants of a great isthmus, like the present Panama 
neck, which extended from the southern end of Florida to 
northern South America, and this hypothetical feature 
has been called the Windward bridge. Others have 
looked upon the islands as decayed remnants of the 
former eastward extension of the American continent. 
Others still have considered the Antilles the remnants of 
the ancient Atlantis— the large island which, according 
to an ancient tradition that was credited to the Grreek 
geographers, was situated in the Atlantic Ocean west of 
Africa, opposite the Pillars of Hercules. Plato says that 
nine thousand years before his time this was inhabited by 
a populous and powerful people, who conquered the 
western part of Europe and Africa, and furnished a 
tremendous force of invaders who threatened to overcome 
all the people of the Mediterranean, until the gods finally 
came to the rescue and sent a great earthquake which 



382 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

caused the island to sink into the sea. Some writers of 
more recent date have explained the shallows of the 
Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf by alleging them to be 
remnants of this mythical island. None of these hypoth- 
eses is correct, however, although there are facts which 
might seem to the superficial observer to support any one 
of them. 

The "West Indies, as we have shown, are largely the tips 
of great rugosities of the earth's solid crust, the larger 
portions of which are submerged below the ocean. Grreat 
areas of these irregularities, like the banks of the western 
Caribbean, do not reach the surface of the water at all; 
others, like the Bahamas, rise thousands of feet, yet barely 
project as tips of land ; still others, like the superb Antil- 
lean Mountains, although two thirds submerged, are so 
high that they rise ten thousand feet or more above the 
present sea-level. If the submerged banks could be 
elevated a hundred fathoms, or, conversely, if the sea 
could be lowered to the same extent, the area of the 
West Indies would be nearly doubled. That the sub- 
merged portions of these ridges and banks have stood 
much higher than now, making more extensive bodies of 
land, is most probable; and it is likely that there have 
been many changes of level. 

It is reasonably certain that the West Indian lands before 
the close of the Tertiary period were much more extensive 
than now, and that the Great Antilles were once a con- 
nected body of land. This being so, without other evi- 
dence the Windward bridge might have been a possibility. 
But the facts of biology and geology show us that such 
was not the case, for if this bridge had existed, the 
Great and Lesser Antilles would now be j)opulated by 
the animals common to the two continents, instead of 
being nearly void of mammals and absolutely without 
any North American features among their living or fossil 
land faunas. Furthermore, geological surveys have 
proved that, during this time of the expanding Antillean 



GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE WEST INDIES 383 

lands, the G-ulf Stream flowed out from the American 
Mediterranean as now, but through a passage across the 
northern half of Florida, completely severing the West 
Indies from North America, and that southern Florida 
was at one time a West Indian island. Nevertheless, 
during at least one epoch the Grreat Antilles were prob- 
ably connected into a single large island, while the 
Bahama banks to the northward made a long peninsula 
nearly as large in area, projecting out from Florida. 
Furthermore, the great banks of the western Caribbean 
Sea were at that time projections of land probably con- 
necting Central America with Jamaica and possibly Cuba. 
All of these areas, with parts of Central America, may 
have been a vast island lying between the continents (for 
it is most probable that Central America then had no 
connection with North or South America), thereby ful- 
filling the old conception of an Atlantis ; but man had not 
at that time appeared upon the earth, or, if so, it has not 
been proved, and hence there is no reason for supposing 
that this body of land was the Atlantis of the Grrecian 
myth. 

The geological history of these islands has been charac- 
terized by gigantic revolutions, marked by remarkable 
oscillations up and down, and general changes in area of 
the land and sea, such as are unknown or but feebly re- 
flected in the synchronous history of the more stable and 
adjacent continents. The merest tyro in geologic know- 
ledge knows that the eastern half of the United States, 
except the narrow coastal plain, has long been a stable 
land, covered with vegetation and drained by rivers since 
the Carboniferous period. He also knows that at the end 
of the Cretaceous and the beginning of the Tertiary 
period the great Cordilleras of the western half of North 
and South America were elevated approximately to their 
present outlines and that the main continents then passed 
into a period of old age. At this time, however, the 
known history of the West Indies was just beginning; 



384 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

there may have been a few Paleozoic nucleal rocks in 
Cuba and Santo Domingo, but even this is uncertain, for 
the oldest positively determined rocks belong to the 
Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Pleistocene ages. During these 
later epochs remarkable changes have taken place in the 
Antilles, following one another with such rapidity that they 
have made a more complicated history than all the events 
that marked the earlier ages of the mainland. 

At the close of the Cretaceous period the G-reat Antilles 
were regions of volcanic activity, by which material was 
transferred from the bosom of the earth into gigantic 
heaps of volcanic rocks. Whether these stood as islands 
in the sea or rose from a body of preexisting land no one 
can answer, but the vast heaps of land-derived gravel 
and conglomerate which make the great thicknesses of old 
sedimentary rock in the Antillean Mountains and consti- 
tute the oldest-known formations of Barbados and the 
Virgin Islands lead to the conclusion that at the begin- 
ning of Tertiary time there were land areas in the West 
Indies concerning the shape and area of which we cannot 
even speculate. This may have been a still earlier At- 
lantis than the one we have above suggested. At this time 
the Caribbean chain was probably a line of active volcanoes. 

Then followed another vast revolution. The preex- 
isting lands subsided beneath the sea to great depths, in 
places five miles or more, until only the merest tips of 
the highest land of the Great Antilles remained above the 
sea. Then these were probably reduced to small islands, 
possibly as diminutive as the smallest Caribbee of to-day, 
and their former areas covered with the calcareous radio- 
larian slime of the ocean's bottom. This was in the second 
quarter of the Tertiary history. 

Then came, in the third quarter of Tertiary history, 
another revolution by which the ocean's floor was cor- 
rugated into land, and the old sediments with the deep 
sea chalks and muds were folded into the gigantic Antil- 
lean mountain systems, which at this time probably 



GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE WEST INDIES 385 

reared their summits to twenty thousand feet or more, 
connecting all the Antilles into a body of land, and pro- 
ducing the Atlantis which we first described. This 
mountain-making epoch was the one which produced the 
remarkable east-and-west folds we have so frequently 
mentioned in these pages, and which formulated the 
present major geography of the Antilles. With this oro- 
genic revolution ended the volcanic disturbances of the 
Great Antilles, but the Caribbean vents were piling their 
heaps of tuff and cinder higher and higher. 

Then followed another general subsidence throughout 
the region in the fourth quarter of the Tertiary history. 
This subsidence was great, but not so profound as that of 
the previous epochs. It was sufficient, however, to cut 
up the Antillean Atlantis into its present island mem- 
bership, to carry beneath the waters the former lands 
represented in the now submerged banks, and to restore 
the limits of the narrow ridge from which rose the Carib- 
bean volcanoes. 

In later geologic time, when great glacial sheets covered 
the North American region, and since then, the West 
Indian region has been rising again in most places, 
although subsiding in others. The old banks of the 
Caribbean Sea and submerged platforms around the 
islands were brought up to within one hundred fathoms 
of the surface, and upon them the reef-making coral 
polyps found lodgment and began to add their contribu- 
tion to the rock-making forces of the earth. This is 
shown by elevated benches of reef rock around so many 
of the islands, and by the elevated wave-cut terraces of 
Cuba and Haiti, to which we have called attention. 

During these later changes there is no reason io suppose 
that the two great basins of the American Mediterranean 
— the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea— at any 
time lost their general integrity or connection with the 
mother oceans, although their limits were expanded and 
contracted, and at times they may have been invaded by 



386 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

the Pacific ; for Agassiz's researches have shown that their 
bottoms are still inhabited by the old marine life which 
began further back in geologic time than is recorded in 
the rocks of the surrounding lands. 

In conclusion we can only say that the West Indian 
history, although peculiar and still largely uninterpreted, 
shows no evidence that these islands were ever in any 
manner connected with the North American continent. 




X ^ 



CHAPTEE XXXVII 

RACE PEOBLEMS IN THE WEST INDIES 

Varied nationality and character of the iahabitants. Condition of the 
native whites. Possibilities of the white race. The negroes. Their 
general character, habits, and moral condition. Obiism, or witchcraft. 

I BELIEVE it was Froude who remarked that the West 
Indies might be a very interesting field for the con- 
templation of the naturalist, but for the student of people 
they presented little that was of interest. I cannot 
wholly agree with this proposition. The spectacle of the 
political conditions of the natives of the West Indies is 
indeed pitiful, but the people themselves are interesting, 
whether perturbed Cubans, despondent San Domingoans, 
hopeless English, atavistic Martiniques, or the vast hordes 
of blacks of many kinds. I have tried to convey an idea 
of how each of these islands is breeding a different species 
of mankind, but a volume would not suffice to amplify 
this topic. Not only upon each island, but, as Hearn has 
shown, in mountainous Martinique "people are born and 
buried in the same valley without ever seeing towns but a 
few hours' journey beyond their native hills, and distinct 
racial types are forming within three leagues of each other." 
The West Indian people represent many original stocks, 
which have developed variations of habits and customs in 
their New World environment. They are practically 
divisible into three great races, the white, colored, and 
black, modified by Spanish, English, and French civiliza- 
tions. 

387 



388 CUBA AND POETO RICO 

The Danish and Dutch intiiiences are trivial. The 
English habit, wherever implanted, is one of law and 
order. Where the Latin predominates, civilization is 
lacking, at least in methods of modern sanitation. In 
the countries in which the French race habit has been 
implanted, Haiti, Martinique, and Gruadeloupe, there has 
resulted a more complete elimination of the Caucasian 
type than in either the English or Spanish islands. 

The condition of the native whites, with some excep- 
tions, is most unfortunate, and yet at the close of the last 
century no finer race existed than the whites of the West 
Indies, of whom were Hamilton, Dumas, and the Empress 
Josephine. With the industrial ruin these people have 
rapidly decreased, and their children are sent to more 
progressive parts of the world. We do not mean to say 
that most excellent white people may not be found in all 
the leading walks of life, upon every island, but these are 
not increasing, and the old planter class is almost gone. 

Yet here and there we find proofs that the white race 
still maintains its foothold. The descendants of the old 
Dutch settlers of Saba, St. Eustatius, and Curasao are 
examples of a long-domiciled European race which has 
not lost in complexion or sturdiness. Upon every little 
island can be found an old Yankee skipper or two who 
has settled there to enjoy old age; merchants, bankers, 
consuls, and shipping-agents seem also to find life pleas- 
ant in these tropical surroundings. 

Modern science has done much to alleviate the process 
of acclimation in the tropics, yet every one who goes 
there must pay a penalty. Changes in the tissue must 
follow if the individual is to become wholly acclimated or 
adapted to the new conditions. The nice balance of 
power is upset. Many unduly expose themselves to the 
scorching sunlight; others expose themselves to the 
heavy dews. Many indulge in the fully matured juicy 
fruits of the tropics, thereby upsetting the already over- 
taxed internal machinery. A fever of some kind is a mere 




3 > 
h5 




RACE PROBLEMS IN THE WEST INDIES 389 

question of weeks or months. It may be a simple mala- 
rial fever, a pernicious malarial fever, or the dreaded " yel- 
low Jack." 

White men went to the West Indies long before these 
days of modern sanitation, and lived to old age, and 
others can now do the same. It is but fair to say that 
the present population, both white and black, has only 
been established at ^ tremendous cost of life. The Eng- 
lish have reduced the death-rate in Jamaica from 100 
to 19 per 1000, and the Americans will reduce that of 
Cuba; but even with all that science has done and is 
doing, acclimation will for many years remain a costly 
process, which will always require sacrifice of strength, 
if not of life. 

In the West Indies there are but two or possibly three 
islands in which there is room for further Caucasian 
colonization — Cuba, Santo Domingo, and possibly Ja- 
maica. Porto Rico is already crowded, while the Lesser 
Antilles, owing to their remoteness from markets, offer 
no inducement at present to white immigration. It is 
only to the business man and developer of large enter- 
prises that these islands offer opportunities. With the 
exception of Cuba and Porto Rico, they are overwhelm- 
ingly populated by the black races. These people, consti- 
tuting the laboring element, are there to stay, for better 
or for worse, and their future advancement or degenera- 
tion depends upon the treatment they receive from, and 
the example that is set them by, the governing classes. 
Some of the islands are so densely populated that they 
seem incapable of supporting another human being, while 
others possess room for future black populations. 

Every thoughtful reader must ask if this large propor- 
tion of blacks is not a menace to our civilization. I have 
tried from time to time to show that the West Indian 
negroes are of many varieties, but that they are a harm- 
less and useful race, that they are the only people who 
can do hard manual labor in the tropics, and that they 



390 CUBA AND POETO RICO 

could not be easily replaced. Many suppose that the 
present West Indian negro is the natural result of adap- 
tation to a climate somewhat similar to that of his 
ancestral home ; but this is not altogether true, for it has 
been shown that he is in a degree a result of the survival 
of the fittest, for the process of acclimation cost many lives 
for every individual that survived. 

The black races of the West Indies, and their habits, are 
most interesting studies. Gathered as they were from 
numerous tribes of Africa and settled upon the different 
islands, they naturally show not only differences in 
inherited qualities, but in those habits acquired from 
different masters for which the African is noted. Thus 
there are English, French, Spanish, Irish, Scotch, and 
Dutch negroes in the various islands. 

As a class these are industrious and orderly, varying in 
these respects with the political condition of their mas- 
ters ; but it is a singular fact that the great crimes of rape 
and murder, which have been such a blot upon the record 
of the American negroes, are almost unknown in the West 
Indies. As Sir Henry Blake, lately governor of Jamaica, 
remarked to the writer, a woman can travel alone from 
one end to the other of that island, without thought of 
danger. Furthermore, the horrible habit of lynching, 
which prevails in our Southern States as an accompani- 
ment of those crimes, is entirely unknown; in fact, but 
few capital crimes are committed in the West Indies. 

Another quality concerning the West Indian negro is 
the fact that the caste system, which exists there as a rule, 
is quite different from that of the United States. Here 
the negro is almost universally debarred from civil equal- 
ity, and seems to have more strongly impressed upon him 
the constant feeling that the white race is opposed to his 
obtaining opportunities and civil advancement, although 
our laws convey the impression that all men are equal. 
In the more advanced West Indies, especially the British, 
social equality is neither taught nor believed in by any 




CARIB INDIANS 




CARIB ROCK-INSCRIPTIONS 

ST. VINCENT 



RACE PEOBLEMS IN THE WEST INDIES 391 

person. Caste and station are acknowledged, and the 
negroes realize that it depends upon intelligence and 
merit; and they do not feel that service is degrading. 
They also recognize the necessity of strong government, 
and have a deep-seated respect for the laws and those 
who administer them. 

The devotion and respect of the English negroes for 
their country is most impressive. One morning, while 
watching a landing-drill of the British tars upon the 
beautiful campus at Barbados, my attention was dis- 
tracted by a great black market-woman who kept mut- 
tering to herself in a perfect ecstasy of delight : " Dem 's 
Mistress Keen's^ soldiers, and in de time when de enemy 
comes dey '11 take care ob me." This feeling that the 
government will protect the rights of the lowest is the 
great safeguard against any inherited tendency of sav- 
agery to be disorderly. 

In my travels in the West Indies I have never seen the 
least incivility on the part of the negroes toward the 
whites, though I have seen them at their best and at their 
worst. As a geologist, it has been my habit to employ 
the first man or boy I saw upon the road to carry speci- 
mens and do the drudgery on my excursions into the 
country. I have never had one fail me within his limita- 
tions, nor be less respectful than if he were the private 
orderly to a general. 

Much has been written upon the low moral condition, 
mental degradation, and superstition of the West Indian 
negroes. Concerning the first charge it can be said that, 
in all respects other than that of looseness in sexual rela- 
tions, they are superior, as a class, to the negroes of our 
own country. The white clergy in the West Indies are in 
close touch with the black population, who are not cut 
off from the higher class of religious instruction, as in this 
country. Crimes against property or person are com- 
paratively rare, and the negroes have not the reputation 

1 Queen Victoria. 



392 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

there of a natural propensity for stealing, as expressed in 
American caricature. So far as mental degTadation is 
concerned, I have been astonished at the literacy of these 
people, especially in the British West Indies, where men 
and women ^Yorking for a shilling or less a day are able 
to read and write. Furthermore, there have been excep- 
tional cases where negroes, outside of Haiti, have risen to 
positions of learning and influence, like the chief justice 
of Barbados, and many blacks in the English civil service. 

Concerning the charge of superstition, it is true that 
both the blacks and whites of the West Indies are satu- 
rated with it, but not to the degree that has been alleged. 
Every Ijook of West Indian travels tells of this subject, 
picturing the terrible doings of the obi-men, their influ- 
ence over the ignorant peasants, and the deadly fear 
they create among the white planters. Some even go so 
far as to tell of horrible cannibalistic sacrifices and orgies 
which defy the most vivid imagination to describe. One 
who reads St. John's book, "Hayti; or. The Black Re- 
public," will be filled with horror at the tales of cannibal- 
ism and savagery it recounts, and shudder at the thought 
of such deeds within gunshot of our own country. Yet it 
is my calm conclusion, borne out b}'' the testimony of 
others, that the wiiter of this book has committed the 
common mistake of adding to the actual facts of the 
African obi rites the imaginary French witch-lore known 
as vaudoux (voodoo). 

In opposition to St. John's charges Mr. Bassett, the 
Haitian consul-general, wrote : " I have lived in Haiti as 
United States minister for nine years, and there is just 
about as much cannibalism there as there is in the city of 
New Haven." 

A doctor of divinity, a native West Indian, wi'ote: 
" From my own knowledge I can testify that the voodoo 
worship and the snake dance are practised in Haiti, but 
cannibalism, I am sure, is not a custom of the Haitians." 

Mr. Preston, who for many years was dean of the 




NEGRO HUT 




AFRICAN BASKET-WATTLE HOUSE, BOARD HOUSE, ADAPTATION OF SAME 

ST. VINCENT 



EACE PEOBLEMS IN THE WEST INDIES 393 

diplomatic corps in Washington, said: "I was born in 
Haiti and spent about half of m^ life in that country, 
and I never saw any person who had seen anything there 
in the shape of cannibalism. I have seen persons who 
were known serpent- worshipers, but no such thing exists 
as voodooism." 

Mr. Whidden, the first minister of the United States to 
Haiti, believed that these reports were based on popular 
rumor, sometimes originating in private malice, and was of 
the opinion that, if the truth were ascertained, there would 
be found no more cannibalism in Haiti than in Jamaica. 

Most of the West Indian negroes, only a few genera- 
tions removed from savagery, undoubtedly believe in 
witchcraft, and practise it, too, as I shall describe ; but the 
most absurd feature is that the native whites, while not 
practising it, believe in its powers and exaggerate its 
actual performances by attributing to it all the absurd 
.doings which their Graelic or Saxon forefathers believed 
in two thousand years ago. I have taken great pains to 
study this peculiar subject in both the United States and 
the West Indies. 

Nearly all races of mankind in primitive ages have 
believed in witchcraft; that is, that certain persons have 
dealings and influences with evil spirits whereby they 
obtain the power to work spells for good or evil upon 
other people or their belongings. This is not religion at 
all. It contains no moral or contemplative conception, 
but is merely a sanction of savage fear and revenge— a 
form of belief and practice which preceded religion in the 
evolution of all mankind. Its conceptions still linger in 
the folk-lore of civilization, and more strongly than we 
are inclined to think, for thousands of the peasantry of 
European countries, and perhaps our own, still believe in 
witches and their supernatural powers. 

African witchcraft goes under many names. In the 
English colonies it is known as obiism, in Haiti and the 
Trench colonies as vaudouxism, in Louisiana as voo- 



39-1 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

dooism, and in the other Southern States of English 
settlement as conjure. Its reflection in the Northern 
States is called hoodoo. Furthermore, obiism and con- 
jure on the one hand, and vaudoux and voodoo on the 
other, are two distinct conceptions. 

The first is African witchcraft as actually practised by 
negroes the world over. The second is the French con- 
ception of imaginary witchcraft — inherited folk-lore from 
the days of ancient Gaul, something which all French 
peasants believe to be, but which is not and has not been. 

Obiism, like all savage religions, is based upon belief 
in evil spirits which can be invoked or propitiated by 
gifted human beings. The conception of a benevolent 
Supreme Being is not essential or necessarily considered ; 
or if considered, he is all-good and needs no human pro- 
pitiation, but the evil spirits are those which must be 
guarded against or cajoled. Obiism is characterized by 
four essential beliefs: (1) that certain human beings 
can propitiate or influence the evil powers; (2) that evil 
spirits are associated with serpents and reptiles; (3) that 
the shades of the dead return to work revenge upon the 
living; (4) that charms for good or evil can cast spells 
upon the victim. 

The first and chief factor of this savage belief is the 
witch-doctor or obi-man— the voodoo-doctor of Louisiana 
and the conjure-doctor of the South. His power lies 
in the influence of his presence upon simple-minded folk, 
and the faith he creates in the potency of his charms 
and actions. He is usually a venerable man of hideous 
mien, who goes about pretending to practise spells and 
charms, and selling a few simple herb remedies. He is 
undoubtedly a survival of the medicine-man found in 
every tribe in Africa, and exercises a great power for 
good or e^dl through his hypnotic powers. He may or 
may not possess a knowledge of a few simple vegetable 
poisons, as alleged. In exceptional cases he may cause 
ignorant servants to administer poison or slow deranging 







NEGRO HUT, ANTIGUA 





NEGROES AND LOW WHITES, EAST SIDE OF BARBADOS 




FISHERMAN'S HUT, BARBADOS 

ANTIGUA AND BAEBADOS 



KACE PEOBLEMS IN THE WEST INDIES 395 

drugs to their masters from motives of vengeance. All 
the whites of the West Indies believe that they do so, and 
weird stories are told of planters who have thus sickened 
and died. 

Another strong feature of obiism is the belief in 
haunts. The negroes believe that not only the spirit but 
the person of the dead, in a modified form, returns to 
trouble the living. These more nearly correspond to the 
shades of the ancient Grreeks, having body and substance, 
than to our conception of spirits which are without them. 
These shades are known in Jamaica as "duppies," in 
Martinique as "zombi," in Antigua and Barbados as 
" jumbies," and in America as " harnts." They are some- 
what related to the myths of the will-o'-the-wisps, for 
Jamaica duppies, at least, have fiery eyes ("D is for 
Duppy ; him eye shine like fire "), and the darkies are in 
dread of moving lights at night. Duppies and their kind 
are supposed to inhabit certain trees, especially the giant 
ceiba, which in Jamaica is particularly feared by the 
negroes on this account ; and they will not cut or injure it, 
except after threats or violence, and even then they must 
first be made drunk; and while felling it they chant a 
song, "Me no cut you, massa; he cut you." Dead chil- 
dren are especially liable to return as duppies to haunt the 
mother, who, even though she may have been the ten- 
derest of creatures, always recalls some act of omission or 
commission on her part which will cause the child to 
return and punish her. To prevent this, they are very 
particular to put heavy weights upon the graves ; other- 
wise they will awake some night to find the duppy sitting 
upon the foot of their bed. 

Obiism, in its most primitive form, is accompanied 
by a few crude rites. Its believers are supposed to meet 
at night in some wild and secret place, where the obi- 
doctors or priests perform incantations, and the believers 
sing and dance themselves into wild trances (such as the 
dance on the Place Congo in New Orleans, described by 



396 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

Cable), and even to offer blood-sacrifices of cocks, goats, 
or children, to propitiate the evil one. Sometimes the evil 
one is present in the person of a harmless serpent, as in 
West Africa and in Haiti, where a large native snake 
takes the place of the African reptile. Among other 
people, as in Jamaica and the United States, the pro- 
i:)itiation of the snake, as such, has been abandoned, but 
all of the reptilian tribe is shunned with horror and 
regarded as influential for evil (powerful obi). Even in 
Louisiana snakes are said to enter still into the cere- 
monials of obiism. 

The trances into which our negroes fall at their religious 
revivals are undoubtedly survivals of these rites. These 
meetings have practically been abandoned by the blacks 
wherever white churches have been instituted, except 
possibly in Haiti and Jamaica, and even there they are 
infrequent. 

A remarkable fact concerning these rites is that descrip- 
tions of them are based on hearsay, the narrators always 
asserting that it is impossible to ascertain anything au- 
thentic respecting them, owing to the secrecy with which 
they are carried on. This fact adds to the suspicion that 
even the African devils are painted blacker than they 
really are, and that many of their alleged doings have 
taken place only in the imagination of the narrator. 

Such is the worst obiism of the West Indian blacks, 
which may sur^dve only in Haiti, if even there ; which, in 
a modified form, can be found everywhere in our own 
country; and which is in no manner markedly different 
from the tales of witchcraft which one cannot escape if he 
visits Salem, Massachusetts. 

There can be no doubt that the African obiism sur- 
vives in some form wherever the African race is extant, 
just as the Germans and English believe in elfs, gnomes, 
and fairies; and in a degree it is practised in America 
from Boston to the equator. Taverner, writing in the 
Boston "Post" of February 1, 1883, describes a negress 



EACE PEOBLEMS IN THE WEST INDIES 397 

conjurer, and states that " her reputation on the northerly 
slopes of Beacon Hill fully equals that which the most 
fashionable physician has acquired on the southerly side 
of the same eminence." 

In 1897, within a week after my return from the West 
Indies, where I had made various observations upon 
obiism, I clipped from the daily papers of Washington 
city three notices of the vaudoux- doctors and their doings. 
One had been arrested for illegal practice of medicine in 
the city ; another of much celebrity had died ; and a third 
had been guilty of some trifling misdemeanor which at- 
tracted public attention. 

I can recall vividly to this day the scene I witnessed, 
as a boy, upon a farm within four miles of Nashville, 
Tennessee, when a great commotion occurred among the 
former slaves in the quarters then still occupied by them. 
There was such a loud chattering of African voices from 
the cabins that the proprietor of the place proceeded to 
ascertain the cause. An old and trusted female servant, 
who was afflicted with scrofulitic sores upon one of her 
arms, was denouncing a certain negro, who, she said, had 
employed an aged and toothless old man, then standing in 
the center of the crowd, to cast his spell upon her ; and as 
proof of her assertions she produced a small bottle which 
she had dug from the path before her cabin door, con- 
taining a few horsehairs and reptile-claws, which, she said, 
had made snakes grow in her arm. 

The papers of the South frequently mention the doings 
of conjure-doctors. The Atlanta " Constitution " of Novem- 
ber, 1885, stated that perhaps one hundred old men and 
women practised voodooism in that city— telling fortunes, 
pointing out the whereabouts of lost and stolen goods, 
furnishing love-philters, and casting spells upon people and 
cattle. They belonged to all ranks and classes of negroes. 

The American conjure-doctors, like those of the West 
Indies, carry bags to hold their charms, consisting of 
lizards' claws, dried rats, human bones, and other grue- 



398 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 

some objects. The Sehna (Alabama) " Times" of May, 1884, 
describes one of the bags picked up in Broad Street of 
that city, which contained a rabbit's foot, a piece of dried 
"coon-root," some other roots, and particles of parched 
tobacco. The rabbit's foot, perhaps, possesses more 
powers of sorcery than any other instrument in use 
among the black doctors of the South, being an especial 
charm against evil, particularly "if it is a left hind foot 
from an animal caught in a country graveyard on a cloudy 
night in the new of the moon." 

The rabbit's foot of late years has pervaded white so- 
ciety. Base-ball players and sporting men generally carry 
one; and, mounted in silver, they are displayed in the 
shops of our great cities. Even statesmen can be seen 
wearing these as watch-charms in Washington. The 
Philadelphia "Evening Telegram" of August 7, 1884, noted 
that the left hind foot of a gi^aveyard rabbit had been 
presented to Grover Cleveland as a talisman in the cam- 
paign. 

The vaudouxism of the French colonies is something 
different from obiism. It is obiism which has been 
magnified by attributing to it the imaginary doings of 
the French vaudois— the supposed cannibalistic witches 
whom every French peasant, white or black, thoroughly 
believes in. The superstition of the terrible doings of the 
vaudois is as firmly embedded in the folk-lore of the 
French peasant's mind as our belief in the rotation of 
the earth, and the word contains a strong moral reproach ; 
and it is a strange coincidence that the Vaudois of the 
fifteenth century were accused of all the horrible things 
which to-day are attributed to the Haitian negroes, such 
as cannibalism, especially the sacrificing of children and 
eating of their remains; the disinterment after burial of 
those parts of the victims of such sacrifices as have not 
been eaten; the transubstantiation of the human form 
into the shape of wolves for the purpose of securing 
victims for the sacrifice; their secret knowledge in the 



EACE PROBLEMS IN THE WEST INDIES 399 

use of herbs, whereby they can produce health, sickness, 
etc., especially slow death, impotence, riches, poverty, 
storm, rain, hail, and tempest. 

From the similarity between the stories told of the 
Vaudois and of the Haitian vaudoux, there can be little 
doubt that most of the horrors attributed to the latter are 
merely products of the imagination of a people who 
through their French association have become impreg- 
nated with their belief in the existence of this particular 
species of witchcraft. 

Mr. W. W. Newell,^ to whom I am indebted for many of 
the data herein presented, has shown the remarkable 
identity of the charges which the French of the middle 
ages made against the good and pious sect of Waldenses, 
and those now daily reiterated concerning the vaudoux. 
These good people, called Vaudois, were then accused of 
practising nearly everything that is laid upon the vau- 
doux. They were called a sect infernal and worthy of the 
hatred of all good Christians, and were bitterly perse- 
cuted, and the pious members, under torture, were made to 
confess the practice of witchcraft and all horrible things. 
Furthermore, the word vaudois meant a witch, and vau- 
derie signified a sorcerer, in France. At the same time 
the name Vaudois was applied to an imaginary sect of 
witches, and the respectable Waldenses were regarded as 
guilty of all horrible crimes laid to the account of sor- 
cerers. The word still survives in France. In the 
canton of Yaud the form is vaudai, a sorcerer; in 
Morvan it is vaudoue, and the corresponding verb is 
envaudoueiller, signifying to bewitch or voodoo, or, in 
the corrupted form which it has assumed north of Mason 
and Dixon's line, " hoodoo." 

1 "Journal of American Folk-lore," January, 1888, vol. i, pp. 16-30. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 

THE FUTUEE OF THE WEST INDIES 

Vicissitudes which have been survived. Depression of the sugar indus- 
try. The bane of ahen land-tenure. Bad effect of political distribu- 
tion. Prospective relations with the United States. 

I HAVE endeavored to give a picture of the present 
condition of the West Indies, with sufficient notes on 
their history to convey an idea of their past and present ; 
but now not only to the few representatives of the Cau- 
casian race upon these islands, but to the civilized world, 
the question is, What of the future I 

These beautiful islands have stood the shocks of earth- 
quake, the devastation of floods, and even some of them 
the greater catastrophe of volcanic outbreaks, and yet 
recovered. Five times have they been prostrated by 
events of human agency, not counting the extermination 
of the aborigines. During the first three centuries of 
their settlement, civilization flourished in the face of the 
most rapacious piracy and freebooting the world has 
ever known. Then came European wars at the close of 
the last century, when France, Spain, and England vied 
with one another in despoiling them. An era of revolu- 
tions followed, when the people rose or threatened to 
rise against European domination. Next the emancipa- 
tion of slavery upset the labor system, and caused as 
much impoverishment as the other causes. Finally, in 
1885, came the great fall in the price of sugar and the 
ruin of their chief industries. In all but Cuba, sugar 

400 




NEWCASTLE SUGAR-MILL 




SPREADING BAGASSE TO DRY 
FOR FUEL 



CANE-GRINDING BY WINDMILL 
POWER 



SUGAR-CULTUKE — BARBADOS 



THE FUTUBE OF THE WEST INDIES 401 

cultivation is now paralyzed. In some of the Lesser 
Antilles it is still carried on without profit, giving the 
plantation hands a mere subsistence and tightening the 
coil of debt around the planters ; in others, such as Do- 
minica and St. Thomas, the planters have given up the 
struggle, and the once productive cane-fields are going 
back to jungle. Unless something is done to alleviate 
their agricultural conditions, many of these islands will 
revert to primeval forests inhabited solely by negroes. It 
indeed seems a pity that countries blessed with the richest 
conceivable soils, possessing an abundance of laborers 
who are willing and anxious to work for prices averaging 
fifteen cents a day, should be decaying at the close of the 
nineteenth century, when the demand for agricultural 
products is greater than ever before in the world's history. 

It is true that the beet- root has appeared as a com- 
petitor with the cane as a source of sugar ; but the world 
would consume at fair prices all the sugar that these 
islands could produce, were it not for the embargoes of 
trade and artificial political conditions produced by gov- 
ernmental greed. Germany alone, notwithstanding her 
enormous production of beet-roots, could consume the 
"West Indian sugar-product, were it not for the fact that 
by its bounties and tariffs it makes this article too dear 
for its own people to use. 

The English islands are in a more depressed economic 
condition than the others. The government has sacri- 
ficed her West Indian colonies for a principle. Had she 
put a protective tariff on non-British sugars, these islands 
would be at least well-to-do. But her statesmen have 
failed to see why the millions of sugar-consumers should 
be taxed for the few West Indian planters, even though 
the Germans were enriched by British free trade, and the 
islands' prosperity destroyed. 

Another great bane of the English islands is the fact 
that the lands are largely held by alien owners, who 
acquired them in days when the large plantations were 



402 CUBA AND PORTO KICO 

profitable. In St. Vincent, for instance, there are thon- 
sands of acres of fertile lands uncultivated and likely to 
remain so. The holders of these lands appear to be 
unwilling to sell them in small lots at reasonable prices, 
and are unable to cultivate them. The British Sugar 
Commission has recommended that these lands be ac- 
quired by the government and sold to the peasantry. 
It has justly said that a monopoly of the most accessible 
and fertile lands by a few persons who are unable any 
longer to make beneficial use of them cannot, in the 
general interests, be tolerated, and is a source of public 
danger. 

What is needed in the British West Indies is a com- 
bination of the English and American systems— a preser- 
vation of the English respect for law with a mixture of 
American push and go, with a relaxation of the English 
official pride which looks down upon trade and industry, 
and a little less American familiarity, which breaks down 
even the respect in which the West Indian negro holds 
the white race, and which is the only barrier between 
himself and his political supremacy in these islands. 

A greater drawback to the West Indies than the one- 
sided agriculture is their political condition. Their 
distribution among too many jealous nationalities neces- 
sitates the support of expensive and useless adminis- 
trations, and prevents federation of interests and the 
development of trade among themselves and with the 
United States, the nearest and largest natural consumer 
of their products. Very ridiculous some of these political 
conditions seem. The island of St. Martin, not as large 
as an average county in the United States, is divided into 
two principalities, the French and the Dutch, each of 
which maintains an administrative force as large as that 
of the State of Texas. Then, as we sail down the eastern 
islands, hardly a score in number, and within sight of one 
another, aggregating in area less than our little State of 
Delaware, we find five foreign flags and no less than a 



THE FUTURE OF THE WEST INDIES 403 

dozen distinct colonial governments, each responsible to 
Europe, with no shadow of federation between them, or 
even cooperation of any kind— a condition not only piti- 
able, but absurd. Why should Dominica, whose people 
are French in language and institutions, be sandwiched 
in between Martinique and Guadeloupe, and within easy 
sight of both, yet so cut off from them by quarantine and 
tariff laws that it is commercially nearer England, some 
three thousand miles distant, than it is to its neighbors 1 

Every product of these islands, were it not for the polit- 
ical conditions, would as naturally find a market in the 
United States as the magnetic needle finds the north. 
Notwithstanding the heavy embargoes of our' tariff, an 
average of sixty per cent, of the "West Indian products 
reaches our shores; but since in this case, at least, the 
producer pays the tax, there is no present profit for him, 
or inducement for further agricultural extension. Fur- 
thermore, while permitting sugar and coffee to reach us, 
these tariffs are a barrier to the cultivation of the small 
fruits for which the West Indies are peculiarly adapted. 

Concerning the future of these islands, of whatever 
nationality, there is but one hope and one end, and that 
is political or commercial annexation to the United States. 
As Froude has said, " The Yankee, whether we like it or 
not, is sovereign of these waters," and we may add that 
he is fast acquiring domination of the land. Every Eng- 
lish statesman of the past fifty years has seen and pre- 
dicted that such would be the destiny of the Antilles. 
The writer just quoted once said,^ describing the harbor 
of Trinidad : " When we arrived, there were three Ameri- 
can frigates, old wooden vessels out merely on a cruise, 
but heavily sparred, smart and well set up, with the Stars 
and Stripes floating carelessly at their sterns, as if in these 
Western seas, be the nominal dominion British, French, 
or Spanish, the American has a voice also and intends to 
be heard." 

1 J. A. Froude, "The English in the West Indies " (1887). 



404 CUBA AND POETO EICO 

He little dreamed, when he wrote these words, only ten 
years ago, that in so short a time those wooden frigates 
would have disappeared from our navy, and that one of 
the most effective, if not one of the largest, iron-clad 
navies of the world, manned by these same Yankees, 
would be in their place, hammering at the gates of Cuba, 
preliminaiy to the establishment of American domination 
in the Great Antilles, just as Eodney's guns a hundred 
years ago determined English supremacy in the lesser 
islands. 

The events taking place as the writing of this book closes 
will release at least two of the Great Antilles from their 
unnatural political and trade conditions, and we may count 
Porto Rico and Cuba as saved from the chaos. If American 
domination is established in Cuba and Porto Rico, there 
can be little reason for longer refusing San Domingo's 
plea for our protection. The people of that countiy were 
the first to realize the hopelessness of theu' political in- 
sularity and to seek a union with our country, which was 
declined for reasons now no longer valid. 

The growing friendship between England and America 
may also result in some consideration of the people of the 
British West Indies, who before the Revolution were so 
closely allied to us in blood and trade. Surely it is a 
crime against nature and civilization that Jamaica, Bar- 
bados, Dominica, Antigua, the Bahamas, and others of the 
British- American islands should be allowed to die of dry- 
rot because of tariff laws. 

The annexation of Hawaii broke down the great senti- 
mental barrier concerning the protection of the few sugar- 
planters of Louisiana which has hitherto stood between 
us and the West Indies, and there is no doubt that our 
tariff laws of the future will have some mercy upon our 
West Indian neighbors. The West Indies and the Span- 
ish-American republics once had in America a friend, a 
statesman who, m the greatness of his vision, realized the 
fact that the interest of our country lay in cultivating 



THE FUTURE OF THE WEST INDIES 405 

trade relations with these people. While the reciprocity- 
laws which were passed at his instigation were in force for 
a few years prior to 1882, the prosperity of the West 
Indies revived, and American commerce grew as it had 
never grown before. Their abolition, however, quickly 
reacted upon both parties. 

There can be no doubt that if absolute free trade were 
established between the West Indies and the United 
States it would prove most beneficial to both countries, 
reviving the agricultural prosperity of the former, and 
creating a market for the manufactured products and food- 
stuffs of the latter. In this alone is there any hope for 
the future of these islands. 

It may be appropriate, before closing this work, to 
speak a few words concerning methods of seeing the 
West Indies. Unless you have your own yacht, or can 
take one of the great ocean liners which in winter make 
excursions from New York, touching hastily at all of the 
principal ports, it will be a very difficult matter to get 
even a perspective of the West Indies in a single tour. 
But excursion steamers and yachts at their best give little 
idea of the true inwardness of countries and peoples. If 
you wish to travel rather than merely tour, you must 
avail yourself of the tracks of commerce. 

Many steamers leave New York for the West Indies, 
but there is no line which takes in more than a few of the 
islands. Some of the best go to Cuba and Mexico without 
touching elsewhere; others only to Jamaica, and thence 
around the isthmian regions and back to New York; 
others go only to Haiti, Santo Domingo, or Porto Rico, 
and these are not first-class. One of the best companies 
takes passengers to the Virgin and Caribbee Islands, or 
rather to such islands as are not quarantined against one 
another. The curse of West Indian travel is quarantine. 
The English islands— and wisely, too— are usually in 
quarantine against Cuba, Haiti, Santo Domingo, Mar- 
tinique, and Gruadeloupe, and it is only in exceptional 



406 CUBA AND POKTO EICO 

cases that one can get from an English island to any of 
these. 

My advice to the traveler would be to plan two separate 
tours, giving a winter to each. One should be devoted to 
the French and Spanish islands ; the other to the English 
colonies. The first-mentioned tour can be initiated by 
leaving New York by rail for Tampa, Florida, whence one 
can go to Havana within less than a day. Steamers can 
also be taken directly from New York either to Santiago 
or Havana, from which places coasting- vessels in time of 
peace skirt the island. Cuba alone is worthy of a winter's 
stay ; but if the reader wishes to proceed farther, he can 
take a regular line from Havana to Haiti, and from Haiti 
to San Domingo, Porto Eico, and the Danish Virgin Islands 
as far as St. Thomas. There he will find means of reach- 
ing Martinique and Guadeloupe. The traveler who makes 
this journey should remember that he is almost constantly 
exposed to disease and contagion, and should acquire such 
sanitary and hygienic knowledge as will enable him to 
avoid them. 

The second tour can be made in either of two ways. 
The Quebec steamship line carries travelers directly from 
New York to St. Thomas, and thence down the English 
Caribbees to Trinidad and Barbados. At Barbados con- 
nection can be made semi-weekly with the excellent 
steamers of the English Royal Mail, proceeding thence to 
Jamaica. The second and preferable method of making 
this tour will be to leave New York by one of the better 
steamers of the Atlas line for Jamaica direct. These 
steamers, as a rule, do not carry sugar, and one avoids 
the horrible stenches of sugar-ships. After seeing Ja- 
maica the Royal Mail can be taken from thence eastward 
to Barbados, from which point one can use the subsidiary 
steamers of the same line up and down the English 
islands, south to Trinidad or Demerara and north to St. 
Thomas, where connections can be made for the United 
States. I will not vouch for the excellence or comforts of 



THE FUTURE OF THE WEST INDIES 407 

the average American steamer, except tlie larger vessels 
of the Atlas line. I have made delightful trips on some 
of the smaller and miscellaneous vessels, however, and 
what they lack in luxuries is compensated by the freedom 
of the ships and the absence of disagreeable company or 
overcrowding. One's companions are usually seafaring 
men or West Indian natives, who are always interesting. 

The traveler will find the West Indies anything but 
unpleasant places ; but the tourist will miss the luxurious 
American hotels, except at Bridgetown, Barbados. For 
my part, the absence of these has not been regretted, for 
one gains little insight into the life of a place when he 
puts up at a foreign caravansary, and the West Indies 
abound in small and hospitable inns where one can find 
pleasure and entertainment. 

The stories of uncleanliness so of1»en reported by 
thoughtless travelers in the tropics have little foundation. 
The buildings are everywhere neatly colored with paint 
or calcimine, freely renewed. The streets of the smallest 
villages, especially in Spanish communities, are paved with 
blocks or cobblestone, and all contain some place of recre- 
ation and attempts at ornamentation. Every Spanish 
village possesses one or more public squares, beautifully 
laid out with trees, walks, and flowers, neatly ornamented 
with seats and railings, and usually with a band-stand in 
the center. The English and French villages have botani- 
cal gardens, preserving the floral beauties of every tropical 
land. 

Such uncleanliness as exists is not of a personal, 
private, or visible kind, but solely that of a municipal 
and public character, such as the concealed cesspools and 
lack of modern sewerage, above which one may walk 
even in some of our American towns. Perhaps the wiiter 
is prejudiced by having seen in his own country unkempt 
places of similar size, beside which the tropical villages 
are models of neatness and sanitation. Certainly no such 
spectacle can be "seen in the tropics as the untidy public 



408 CUBA AND PORTO KICO 

squares of our cotton belt, with their hideous architec- 
tural surroundings; while even the sight of the worst 
spots in the tropics has suggested the reflection that this 
was at least better than what I had seen in some of the 
cities of my own country. 

My task is done. I have tried to present the West 
Indies as I have seen them. Americans who have not 
visited or studied this neighboring region may have found 
some of the statements and conclusions presented con- 
trary to the popular opinion ; but to the English public 
what I have stated will be nothing new. Great Britain's 
statesmen have long been aware of the condition and 
destiny of these American islands, and in the writings of 
Trollope, Froude, and others, written before the present 
cataclysm of tropical history, may be found prophecies 
which told of what has happened or is taking place. The 
present struggles of the Spanish Creoles are but repeti- 
tions of the events which took place in Haiti a century 
ago, when England endeavored, unsuccessfully, to inter- 
fere on the grounds of humanity, as we have done this 
year. As these pages are being written, ominous fears are 
expressed concerning the Cuban people; but Americans 
will see that the intervention of our government has been 
justifiable on every ground, and that that intervention in 
behalf of the " Pearl of the Antilles " meant the beginning 
of a better and brighter day for all the West Indies. The 
establishment of trade relations in their natural channels, 
and the sweeping away of the antique and barbarous 
government of Cuba, will so influence the conditions of 
the other islands that they must inevitably be bettered. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Note. — For political, historical, geographical, etc., items, see the names of t7i€ respective 
islands or their divisions. For specific products, animals, etc., see their respective names. 



Abaco, 300, 302 

Abercrombie, Lord, organizes forces to 
capture Havana, 204 ; retakes St. Lucia, 
360 

Acclimation, tropical, 388-390 

Acklin Island, 302, 303 

Adjuntas, 152, 181 

Africa, 381; overrun by the Atlanteans, 
381; serpent-worship, 396. See also Ne- 
groes; Slavery; Slave-Trade 

African dances, folk-lore, habits, etc., 227, 
232, 233, 286, 287, 321, 390, 393-399 

Africanization of the 'West Indies, 105, 106, 
142, 164, 389, 390, 401 

African negroes, in Haiti, 285 

Agabama, Rio, 47, 126 

Agassiz, Alexander, nomenclature of the 
Caribhean deeps, 13; deep-sea explora- 
tions by, 14, 386 ; on the structure of the 
Bahamas, 297 

Agouti : in Cuba, 55; Porto Kico, 150 ; Santo 
Domingo, 250 

Agua Alta, 189, 203. See also Wag Water 

Aguada, 182 

Aguadilla, city, 156, 161, 179 

Aguadilla, province and department, 156, 
165, 179 

Aguas-Buenas, 151, 181 ; cave, 151 

Aibonito, 152, 182 

Alabama, 8 ; superstition in, 398 

Alameda, the, Santiago, 129, 130 

Albemarle, Lord, captures Havana, 64 

Albufera de Joyuda, Lake, 148 

Aldama family, 122 

Alligator-gar, the, 56 

Allspice. See Pimento 

Almendares, Rio, 116 

Almonds, in Trinidad, 367 

Altavela, 239 

Ambergris, in the Bahamas, 300 

America, Spain loses her colonies in, 65, 66 

American Mediterranean, 1-3, 7-10, 13, 16, 
21, 24, 34, 87, 186, 237, 383, 385 ; an oceanic 
river, 9, 10; fauna, 14-16; submarine 
topography, 13 

Anasco, 182 

Anasco, Rio, 148, 182 

Anchovy Sink, 193 

Andean Cordilleras, 3 

Andes, the, 2-6, 13 ; earthquakes, 361 

Andros, 298, 299, 302 

Anegada, 15, 19, 21, 309, 311, 315 

Anegada Passage, 16, 21, 22, 309, 318 

Anglo-American Club, Santiago, 130 

Angostura bitters, 368 

Anguilla, 19, 23, 318, 319, 380 



Anguillan Islands, 318, 325, 339 

Annatto, in Jamaica, 213 

Annatto Bay, 186 

Anse d'Hainault, 274 

Antigua, 19, 23-25, 76, 311, 319-325, 331, 404; 
agriculture, 323-325 ; area, 19; commerce, 
324, 325 ; population, 19 ; suijerstition, 395 

Antillean mountain system, 3-6, 27-31, 39, 
146, 147, 150, 183, 185, 190, 240, 241, 309, 381, 
382, 384, 385 

Antilles, 9, 11, 14, 16, 21, 22, 30, 145, 146, 150- 
153, 159, 186, 201, 203, 238, 242, 248-250, 256, 
257, 259, 270, 297-300, 318, 374, 381, 382, 384, 
385 ; administrations, 32 ; civilization, 32 ; 
destiny, 403 ; east-and-west trend, 385; 
fauna, 55, 382 ; geographical situation, 3-6; 
geological structure, 382-386 ; mineral re- 
sources, 32 ; " the Pearl of the," 33, 53, 408 ; 
population, 32 ; resources, 32 ; rivers, 31, 
32 ; seaboard, 31, 32 ; yellow fever, 60 

Antimony, in Santo Domingo, 249, 272 

Appalachian continent, 5 

Appalachians, the, 29 

Aquin, 281, 282 

Arachnidae, 56 

Ara\vaks, 166 

Arcahaie, 264 

Areas de Canasi, 42 

Architecture : in Cuba, 110,111; Porto Kico, 
172, 174-178, 180, 181 

Arctic Ocean, 10 

Arecibo, city, 156, 179, 180 

Arecibo, department, 156, 165 

Arecibo, Rio, 148, 180 

Ariguanabo, Lake, 47 

Armendaris, Rio, 46, 110, 114 

Arrowroot: in Montserrat, 335; St. Vin- 
cent, 362 

Arroyo, 181 

Artibonite River, Santo Domingo, 31, 241, 
248, 264, 277, 278 

Aruba, 25. See also Ordba 

Asia, trade with the United States, 93 

Asphalt, as fuel, 380 ; in Barbados, 377, 380, 
381 ; Cuba, 82-84, 380, 381 ; Santo Domingo, 
262, 272, 381 ; Trinidad, 368, 369, 381 

Atares, 109 

Atlanta " Constitution," on superstition in 
the South, 397 

Atlantic Ocean, 2, 8-12, 16, 35, 297, 298, 305, 
318, 320, 328, 348, 366, 373, 375, 381, 382 

Atlantis, the myth of, 2, 310, 381-385 

Atlas Steamship Company, 218, 273, 406, 407 

Atrato, Gulf of, 186 

Atrato, Rio, 3, 6 

Auel, 252 



411 



412 



INDEX 



Austria, beet^sugar, 77 

Aux Cayes, 264, 267, 269, 274, 275, 281 

Avellaneda, Gertrudis Gomez de, 101 

Aves Island, 22, 24, 26 

Ay, Rio, 126 

Azores, 373; traders from, in Antigua, 325 

Azua de la Compostela, 247, 248, 259, 262 

Bacot, J. T. 'W., enumeratiou of the Ba- 
liauias by, 22 

Bahama Banks, 13, 383 

Bahamas, 8. 10, 16, 18, 20-22, 24,25, 35, 186, 233. 
2'J6-304, 307, 381, 382, 404 ; administration, 
25, 375 ; altitude, 22 ; area, 18, 297 ; climate, 
299, 301 ; connection witli the American 
Revolution, 300, 302; enumeration, 22; 
fauna, 298, 299; tlnanccs, aiK), 304; flora, 
299,300; fruits, 300; industries and com- 
merce, 300, 301, 303 ; occupied by England, 
300; peoi'le, 301,302, 304; population, 18, 
301-3(14; separation of Turks and Caicos 
islands from, 304; slavery, 300; Spanish 
raids on, 253; transportation, mail, and 
cable communications, 301; water-supply, 
299, 303 ; wreckers, 300 

Bahia Honda, 38, 63, 86, 118 

Baird, S. F., deep-sea exi)loration8 hy, 14 

Baker, Captain, establishes the Boston Fruit 
Company, 210 

Balaga Barracks, San Juan, 175 

Balearic Islands, relations to Spain, 69 

Baltimore, trade with Jamaica, 218, 223 

Bamboos : in Jamaica, 198 ; Martinique, 354 

Bamboula, the, 286 

Bananas, use of, 60, 61 ; in Cuba, 76, 80, 81, 
91, 133, 136; Haiti, 263, 272; Honduras, 228; 
Jamaica, 188, 208, 210, 212, 214, 223, 228; 
Martinique, 350 ; Nicaragua, 228 ; Porto 
Rico. 160 ; St. Croix, 316 ; St. Kitts, 331 ; 
Santo Domingo, 257, 272 

Bandruco Mountains, 244 

Banes, 132 

Banian-tree, in the Caribbees, 327, 331 

Bank of Guadeloupe, 341 

Bank of Spain and Porto Rico, 175 

Banks Strait, 9 

Baptists, in Jamaica, 207 

Baracoa, 41^3, 63, 64, 80, 81, 86, 124, 128, 132, 
133, 136 

Barahona, 259 

Barahona Bay, 238, 244, 248 

Baraqui, 82 

Barbadian Antilles, 308 

Barbados, 7, 12, 15, 22-24, 26, 166, 211, 307, 
308, 312,373-381, 384,404; administration, 
375 ; area, 19, 373, 376 ; boatmen, 376, 378, 
379; chief justice, 392; climate, 374; the 
Coddrington family, 321. 322; commerce 
and shipping, 313, 314, 374-377,379; com- 
municatious with New York, 406; cos- 
tume, 378; education, 378; emigration, 
370; geology, 374, 377; George Washing- 
ton in, 377; military station, 376, 391; peo- 
ple, 285, 377-379; population, 19, 376-378; 
railroad, 375, 380 ; rel.ations with Virginia, 
377; religion, 375; social progress, 283; 
tourists, 375-377, 379, 406, 407 

Barbuda, 23, 25, 319-323; administration, 321, 
322; area, 19,320; fauna, 150, 321; popula- 
tion, 19; wrecking, 321 

Barcelona, 137 ; trade with Cuba, 92 

Barrier reefs, 37, 38 

Barros, 181 

Bartlett, J. R., computation of the velocity 
of the (julf Stream, 10; deep-sea explora- 
tions bv, 14 

Bartlett Deep, 4, 13, 185 

Basse End, St. Croix, 316 

Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 338, 339, 341, 358 



Basse-Terrc, St. Kitts, 331 

Bassett, on Haitian cannibalism, 392 

Batabano, 45, 64, 87, 88, 90, 113, 117, 124, 144 

Bath, Jamaica, 195, 223, 225 

Bathsheba, 377 

Bayamo, 63, 127 

Bayamon, city, 151, 156, 182 

Bayamon, department, 156, 165 

Bayamon, Rio, 148 

Bay du Marin, 348 

Bay of Fort-de-France, 348 

Bazelais' revolution, Haiti, 281 

Becquia, 363 

Beef Island, 309 

Beeswax : in Cuba, 91, 127, 131 ; PortO Bioo, 
163 

Beet-sugar, 77, 78, 137, 209, 401 

Bejucal, 63, 88 

Belen, College de, 113 

Belgium, Haitian coffee in, 271 

Bellamar, caves of, 48, 49, 122 

Beriberi, 113 

Bermudas, 10, 16, 24, 373 ; cable communica- 
tions, 90; communications with the Ba- 
hamas, 301; emigration to Turks Island, 
304 

Berry Island, 302 

Bethlehem Steel Company, 82 

Bilious fever : in Cuba, 57 ; Haiti, 279 

Biminis Islands, 302 

Bird Island, 22 

Birds : in the Caribbees, 328 ; Cuba, 56 ; Porto 
Rico, 150 ; Santo Domingo, 250 

Bishop's Cap, 242 

Bitumen. See ASPHALT 

Black Eagle, the conspiracy of the, 66 

Black Mountains, 264 

Black River, 193, 196, 223 

" Blacks," in Cuba, 103 

" Blake," the deep-sea explorations of the, 

14 

Blake, Sir Henry, governor of Jamaica, 217 ; 
en the West Indian negro, 390 

Blake, Professor W^. M., on the mineral re- 
sources of San Domingo, 249, 258 

Blanca, 23 

Blanco, Rio, 151 

Blind fish, 56 

Blizzards, 12 

Bloodhounds, French use of, in Haiti, 293 

Blue Mountain Peak, 187-189, 197 

Blue Mountains, Jamaica, 30, 50, 129, 150, 151, 
187-190, 196, 197, 200, 211,212, 240; the COflfee 
of the, 80 

Boa, the, 56 

Bobadilla, Francisco de, imprisons Colum- 
bus, 252 

Boca del Agua, 203. See also BOG Walk 

Bodden Town, cave at, 234 

Bog Walk, 203, 224 

Bog Walk Canon, 192 

Bohios, 79 

Bonao, 252 

Bonaparte, Napoleon, infamous attack on 
Haiti, 293, 294^ 

Bonnet-a-la-£veque, 242 

Bordeaux, trade with Haiti, 273 

Boston, superstition in, 396, 397 ; trade 'With: 
Barbados. 377 ; Jamaica, 210, 218, 223 

Boston Fruit Company, the, 210, 218 

Boston " Post," account of superstition in 
Boston, 396, 397 

Bottom, Saba, 329 

Bounties, 401 

Bowden, 189 

Bowerbank, Dr., 220 

Boyer, J. P., President of Haiti, 295 

Brazil, emancipation in, 289 

Breadfruit: in St. Croix, 316; St. Kitts, 331 



INDEX 



413 



Bribery, in Cuba, 68, 72, 73 

Bridgetown, 312, 374, 375, 379, 407 

Brimstone Hill, 331 

Bristol, England, slave-trade of, 204 

British Antilles, 306 

British Guiana, 366 

Broa Inlet, 48 

Bronchitis, iu Porto Rico, 163 

Brownson Deep, 13, 146 

Brujuelas River, 248 

Bucaneers: in tlieBalianaas, 300; Cuba, 64, 
125; Grand Cayman, 234; Jamaica, 204; 
the Lesser Antilles, 305, 306 ; Porto Rico, 
154 ; St. Kitts, 332 ; Santo Domingo, 238, 
239, 253, 261, 289; Tortola, 315. See also 
Pirates 

Bucaneers' Fort, Cuba, 116 

•' Buckra," 230-232 

Buen Ayre, 19, 23, 25, 366, 372 

Buff Bay, 223 

Bull-fighting, in Cuba, 109 

Burial of the dead : in Haiti, 286; Jamaica, 
395 

Busu, Mount, 246 

Cabanas, 86, 87, 118 

Cabanas, Rio, 47 

Cabanas fortress, Havana, 109 

Cabanilla, 83 

Cabanilla and Maroto Railroad, 83 

Cabeceras, 63 

Cabeza de San Juan, 180 

Cable, George W., on obiism in New Or- 
leans, 395, 396 

Cacique, saline springs of the, 151 

Cacti, 114 

Cadena, Cape, 147 

Cadiz, trade with Cuba, 92 

Cafetals, 131 

Caguas, 182 

Caibarien, 88, 123 

Caibarien system of railways, 88 

Caicos Islands, 22, 233, 298, 300, 302-304 ; ad- 
ministration, 25; connection with Ja- 
maica, 303, 304 

Caigo-o-no-Caigo, 183 

Calcareous shells, 22 

California, early exploration, 104; fruit- 
trade, 136 

Calle Obispo, Havana, 115 

Calle O'Reilly, Havana, 115 

Calzada de Esteban, Matanzas, 121 

Camaguey, 62, 63, 100, 123, 127 

Camagueynos, the, 100 

Cambridge Basin, 193 

Cambridge University, England, work in 
Jamaica, 207 

Caminos del Rey, 90 

Campos, Captain-General Martinez, his hu- 
mane administration, 69, 70, 73 

" Camps in the Caribbees " (Ober), cited, 
338 

Camu, River, 262 

Camuy, 161 

Camuy, Rio, 148 

Canada, trade with Jamaica, 215 

Canal Mountains, 246 

Canary Islands, natives in Cuba, 142 ; rela- 
tion to Spain, 69 ; sugar-cane introduced 
into Cuba from, 64 

Cane ; cane-sugar. See Sugar 

Cannibalism, 283, 287, 392, 393, 398 

Canonau, 363 

Cano Tiburones, Lake, 148 

Cantera, 110 

Cantera family, 126 

Canuelo fortress, Porto Rico, 174 

Caparra, 164 

Cape Cruz, 29, 37, 39, 40 



Cape Dame Marie, 281 

Cape Gracias d Dies, 186 

Cape Haitien, 245, 262, 267, 269, 273-277, 293; 
cable coiumuuications, 91 ; bombarded by 
the British, 275 ; earthquakes, 275, 276 

Cape Limbe, 244 

Cape Maysi, 35, 44, 132, 136 

Cape Plaisance, 244 

Cape San Antonio, 35, 37, 38, 40 

Cape Tiburon, 186, 274, 281 

Caracas, earthquake in, 361 

Caraibe, the, 338 

Carbet, Mount, 345 

Carboniferous period, 383 

Cardenas, 63, 84, 88, 98, 107, 120, 122, 123 

Cardenas Bay, 83 

Caribbean Sea, the, 2, 4-11, 14, 16-18, 21, 24, 
29, 30, 34, 35, 44, 130, 145, 186, 188, 218, 221, 
234, 247, 248, 281, 297, 305, 306, 318, 345, 366, 
371, 382, 383, 385. See also AMERICAN MED- 
ITERRANEAN 

Caribbee Islands, 21-24, 26, 297, 308, 309, 314, 
318, 345, 357-361, 363-366, 373, 375, 380, 381, 
384, 385; area, 19; climate, 327, 328, 342; 
communications with New York, 405, 406 ; 
fauna, 328 ; flora, 327, 331 ; geological fea- 
tures, 327-332, 334, 338-340, 342; popula- 
tion, 19 ; the volcanic, 326-336 

Caribs : in Dominica, 343, 344 ; Martinique, 
354, 355 ; Porto Rico, 166 ; St. Vincent, 362 ; 
Trinidad, 369 

Carnival, in Havana, 111, 112 

Carolina, connection with the Bahamas, 300 

Carpet-baggers, in Cuba, 68 

Carriacou, 363 

Casa Blanca, San Juan, 175 

Casa de Beneficencia : in Havana, 113 ; San 
Juan, 175 

Casilda, 89, 125, 126 

Cassava : in Barbados, 378 ; Jamaica, 231 ; 
Trinidad, 369 

Caste : in the United States, 390, 402 ; the 
West Indies, 390, 391 

Castillo del Principe, 110 

Castle of San Juan, 177 

Castries, 359 

Catano, 174 

Catarrh, in Porto Rico, 153 

Catarro, the, 55 

Cat Island, 302, 303 

Cats : in Barbuda, 321 ; Cat Island, 303 

Cattle : in Anegada, 315 ; AnguUla, 319 ; the 
Antilles, 32 ; Barbuda, 321 ; the Caribbees, 
20 ; Cuba, 45, 78, 81, 137 ; Cura9ao, 371 ; Do- 
minica, 342; Grand Cayman, 234; Ja- 
maica, 198, 200, 213, 225 ; Porto Rico, 159- 
161, 168, 178, 179, 181, 183; Santo Domingo, 
250, 251, 253, 257, 262 

Caucasian race, in the West Indies, 388, 389, 
400 

Cauto River, Cuba, 31, 40, 45, 47, 76, 127, 130 

Cave Hall Pen, 196 

Cave of Mexico, 196 

Cave River, 196 

Caverns, in Cuba, 47-49 

Cave Valley, 192 

Cayenne, immigration, 344, 359 

Cayey, 152, 181 

Cayman, the : in the Isle of Pines, 56 ; Santo 
Domingo, 250 

Cayman Brae, 235 

Cayman Islands, 25, 234, 235 

Cayo del Sabinal, 38 

Cayo Romano, 36, 38, 85 

Cayos de las Doce Leguas, 38 

Cayo Smith, 128 

Cedar : in Cuba, 53, 131 ; Grand Cayman, 234 ; 
Jamaica, 198 ; Martinique, 346 ; Porto 
Rico, 149 ; Santo Domingo, 257 



414 



INDEX 



Cedrela odorata, in Cuba, 63 

Ceiba-tree : iu Jamaica, 395 ; St. Croix, 316 ; 
Trinidad, 367 

Central America, 9, 17, 35, 186, 383 ; the con- 
tinent of. 1, 2, *-«; the crocodile of, 56; 
in preliistoric times, 2; islands formed 
from coutLuent of, 24; Spain loses lier 
colonies in, 65, 06 ; volcanoes, 33 

Central American archipelago, 2 

Central Dominican Railway, 255 

Centrals, 77, 78 

"Century Magazine," cited, 58 

Cereus, 114 

Cerro, the, 116 

Cerro del Oro, 40 

Cerro de Sal, 259 

Cerro of Columbus, 262 

Cerro Santo, 245 

Ceuta, the Spanish prison at, 69 

Chaille, Dr. s. E.,on the sanitary condition 
of Cuba, 57 

Chalcedony, in Santo Domingo, 249 

Champ de Mars, Port-au-Prince, 280 

Chapapote, 83. See also ASPHALT 

Charlestown, Nevis, 333 

Charlotte Amalia, 312 

Charms, belief in, 394-399 

Chester River, 1% 

Chesterfield Sink, 193 

Chiapas, 4 

Chimborazo, 13 

China, trade with the United States, 93 

Chinese : in Cuba, 99, 103; Jamaica, 226 

Chocolate. See Cocoa 

Cholera infantum, 58 

Chorerra, 46, 116 

Christian Brothers, in Haiti, 269 

Christian Church, in Jamaica, 207 

Christiansted, St. Croix, 316 

Christophe, King, 242; his palace of Sans 
Souoi, 276 

Christ's Church, Barbados, 377 

Church of England, in Jamaica, 207 

Ciales, 151 

Cibao Mountains, 241, 242, 246, 247 

Cibuco, Rio, 148 

Cidra, 181 

Cienaga, Lake, 148 

Cienagas, 44, 46, 143 

Cienfuegos, 37, 42, 46, 63, 79, 84, 86-88, 98, 107, 
122-124, 126, 141 

Cifuentas, 88 

Cigars, Havana, 87. See also TOBACCO 

Cimarrones, in Jamaica, 230 

Cinchona, in Jamaica, 189, 214 

Cinco Reales, 129 

Cinco Villas, 62, 63 

Cinnamon, iu Trinidad, 367 

Civil WaT, Nassau, N. P., in the, 302 

Clara, valley of, Cuba, 49 

Clarendon Mountains, 191 

Clarendon Parish, 190, 195, 196 

Clarendon Valley, 190-193 

Clay, in Cuba, 85 

Cleve, P. T., on the geology of Porto Kico, 
150, 151 

Cleveland, Grover, hie rabbit's-foot charm, 
398 

Cloud-bursts, in the Caribbees, 328, 336 

Clouet, General, 124 

Club Nautica, Santiago, 130 

Club San Carlos, Santiago, 130 

Clyde Steamship Company, Haitian service, 
273 

Coal : in Porto Rico, 162 ; Santo Domingo, 
249 ; non-existent in Cuba, 84 

Coamo, 161 

Coamo, Rio, 148 

Coast Survey, work of the, 14 



Coati, the, in Santo Domingo, 250 

Cobre, 84, 89 

Cobre, Rio, 192, 197 

Cochinos Inlet, 48 

Cock-fighting, in Porto Rico, 168 

Cocoa and chocolate: in the Antilles, 32; 
Cuba, 133; Dominica, 342, 344; Grenada, 
364; Guadeloupe, 340; Jamaica, 208,213; 
Martinique, 348-350 ; Porto Rico, 160, 163, 
178, 179 ; Santo Domingo, 255-257, 269, 271, 
281, 289 ; Trinidad, 368 

Cocoanuts: in the Bahamas, 300 ; Cuba, 133 ; 
Grand Cayman, 235 ; Haiti, 272 ; Jamaica, 
188, 208, 224, 228, 235 ; Porto Rico, 179 ; St. 
Croix, 316 ; St. Thomas, 312 ; Trinidad, 
368 

Cocoloba macrophylla, in Porto Rico, 149 

Cocos reefs, 38 

Coco-wood, 63 

Coddrington family, owners Of Barbuda, 
321, 322 

Code Napoleon, in Haiti, 266 

Coffee : in the Antilles, 31, 32 ; Cuba, 76, 80, 
131, 132, 136, 137; Dominica, 344; Guade- 
loupe, 340 ; Jamaica, 80, 189, 208, 211, 212, 
215, 231 ; Martinique, 348, 349 ; Porto Rico, 
159-161, 163, 178-182 ; Santo Domingo, 255- 
257, 269-272, 281, 289 ; United States, 403 ; 
West Indies, 403 

College de Belen, the, 113 

College de St. Ildefonsa, San Juan, 176 

College of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, San 
Juan, 175 

Colombia, 2-4, 8; protectorate of Haiti, 
254; topography, 240; trade with Ja- 
maica, 217 

Colon, 7, 63, 88, 98, 211, 375 

"Colored," the word, 103 

Colored people. See Negeoes 

Columbus, Bartholomew, imprisonment 
of, 252 

Columbus, Christopher, 128, 132; burial- 
place of his family, 261 ; castle of, at San 
Domingo city, 261 ; discovers : Dominica, 
344; Montserrat, 334; Nevis, 333; St. 
Clii'istopher, 332 ; Trinidad, 367 ; the Vir- 
gin Islands, 309; first landfall, 300; 
founds : Concepcion de la Vega, 262 ; Port 
de Paix, 276 ; Puerta Plata, 262 ; his name 
for Cuba, 33 ; imprisonment, 252 ; in : 
Haiti, 276; Porto Rico, 154, 179; Santo 
Domingo, 237, 245, 252; the "Jardines" 
of, 37, 38 ; last voyage, 123 ; second voy- 
age, 252 ; statues of, 122 ; supposed burial- 
place, 112, 113, 261 ; third voyage, 262 

Columbus, Diego, 132 ; castle built by, 261; 
colonizes Cuba, 63 ; settles Santiago de la 
Vega, 222 

Compagnie Generate Transatlantique, Hai- 
tian service, 273 

Concepcion, Matanzas, 122 

Concepcion de la Vega, 252, 262 

Concepcion sugar-estate, 77 

Conch, the pearl, 303 

" Conchs," in the Bahamas, 301 

Congregationalists, in Jamaica, 207 

Conjuring, in the United States, 394-399 

Consejo, cave of, 180 

Constancia asphaltum-mine, 84 

Constancia sugar-estate, 89 

Constant Spring Hotel, Kingston, 221 

Constanzia, Vale of, 247, 248 

Consumption : in Cuba, 143 ; Haiti, 279 ; 
Porto Rico, 153 

Content River, 195 

Coolies : in Cuba, 103 ; Jamaica, 226 ; Trini- 
dad, 369, 370 
Coopers Island, 310 
Copellanias, Rio, 47 



INDEX 



415 



Copper : in the Antilles, 32 ; Cuba, 82, 84, 
85, 130, 141, 380 ; Santo Domingo, 258, 272, 
380 

Coquina, 110 

Coral and coral reefs, 15, 16, 18, 20-24, 37, 85, 
144, 151, 234, 239, 297, 310, 339, 373, 374, 385 

Coral Bay, St. John, 314 

Corazal, 151 

Cordilleran continent, the, 5 

Cordilleras, the, 2-6, 27, 39, 383 

Corn : in Anguilla, 319 ; Cuba, 76 ; Curagao, 
371 ; Jamaica, 214 ; Porto Eico, 168 

Cornilliac, Dr. J. J. J., on the women of Mar- 
tinique, 355 

Cornwall County, Jamaica, 205 

Corral Falso, 88 

Cortes, Porto Rico represented in the, 155 

Cortez, Hernando, in Trinidad, 368 

Costa Rica, 4, 6, 8, 217, 228 

Cotton : in Martinique, 348 ; Santo Do- 
mingo, 269, 271 ; Tobago, 371 

Cow and Bull, the, 299 

Crab Island, 21, 183, 309, 311 

Cranes Point, 377 

Creoles : in Cuba, 67, 73, 101, 103, 104, 127 ; 
Curasao, 371; the Lesser Antilles, 307; 
Porto Eico, 166, 170 ; the Virgin Islands, 
311 * 

Cretaceous period and formations, 41, 43, 83, 
249, 310, 383, 384 

Crittenden, the shooting of, 109 

Crocodiles : in the Bahamas, 298 ; Central 
America, 66; Florida, 56; Isle of Pines, 
56 ; Jamaica, 56, 199 ; Santo Domingo, 249 

Croix des Bouquets, La, 280, 282 

Cromwell, Oliver, seizes Jamaica, 203 

Crooked Island, 302, 303 

Cruces, 88 

Cruelty, In Haiti, 289 

"Cruising among the Caribbees" (Stod- 
dard), cited, 330 

Crustacea, 14, 16 

Cruz, Cape, 29,37, 39, 40 

Cuba, 5, 9, 10, 12, 16-18, 21, 22, 24, 25, 30, 33- 
144, 183, 185, 186, 190, 191, 194, 198, 200- 
202, 208, 236, 238-240, 249, 252, 256, 258, 269, 
274, 277, 298, 376, 380, 381, 383-386, 400, 405, 
406, 408 ; administrative departments, 63 ; 
Africanization of, 142, 164; agriculture, 

64, 65, 76-81, 91, 135-139; archbishopric, 
157; architecture, 121, 124, 125, 128-130; 
area, 18, 34-36 ; autonomy, 67, 70, 99, 156 ; 
baths, 49 ; beauty in, 101, 102 ; blind flsh, 
56; building-material, 85; business af- 
fairs, 139; cable communications, 90, 91, 
276; captain-general, 69-71; carpet-bag 
government, 68 ; caverns, 47-49, 122 ; Chi- 
nese, 99, 103; cities, 107-119; civiliza- 
tion, 32 ; climate, 34, 50-52, 113, 135 ; coast- 
line and harbors, 34-38, 46, 48, 83, 86, 
87, 109, 110, 118, 120, 121, 123-125, 127-129, 
131-133, 138, 141 ; colonization, 63, 64 ; com- 
merce and transportation, 86-96; com- 
munications with New York, 405, 406; 
communications with other islands, 87 ; 
contrasted with Porto Eico, 145, 146; 
coolies, 103; courts, 70; crime, 101; a 
crown colony, 69, 70; declares war 
against Napoleon, 65; decree of 1825, 

65, 71; despotism in, 65-75, 99, 104, 106; 
diseases and sickness, 52, 53, 114; 
disenfranchisement, 101 ; earthquakes, 52; 
ecclesiastical government, 74, 75 ; educa- 
tion, 70, 73-75, 113 ; emancipation, 103, 104 ; 
emigration to San Domingo, 255 ; end of 
the Spanish regime, 134 et seq.; eras of 
prosperity, 64, 67; executions, 100; ex- 
plorations, 39, 64; extermination of the 
natives, 64; fauna, 65, 56, 113; tinances. 



72, 73 ; first governor, 108 ; flsh, 47, 66 ; 
flora, 34, 38, 40, 41, 48, 53-55, 113, 129; 
fruits, 53, 80, 81, 94, 95 ; fundamental law, 
65, 71 ; future of the island, 134-144 ; geo- 
gi-aphical situation, i, 3-5 ; geographic 
subdivisions, 62-75 ; geology, 384 ; govern- 
ing class, 65, 66,68, 72-75, 99, 100 ; highways, 
89, 90 ; homes, 107, 108 ; hurricanes : 1780, 
12 ; 1846, 52 ; 1896, 52 ; importance, 34, 35 ; 
ingenuity of insurgents, 55 ; insanity, 113 ; 
insurgents' refuges and strongholds, 42, 
46; isolation, 87; "The Key of the New 
World," 33 ; labor, 105, 135, 138, 139, 141, 142, 
389 ; lack of energy in, 98, 102 ; lakes, 47 ; 
land and mineral titles, 135 ; Las Casas' 
administration, 64, 65; leprosy, 113, 114; 
losses of Cuban and Spanish forces, 67; 
lottery, 72; loyalty to Spain (the "Ever- 
faithful Island "), 65, 66, 92 ; maps of, 36 ; 
maritime activity, 64 ; marriage, 75, 102- 
104 ; massacres, 100, 106 ; migration from 
Jamaica to, 203; mineral resources, 81- 
85, 91, 94, 130, 131, 136, 141, 142; mrueral 
springs, 49 ; miscegenation, 104 ; moun- 
tains, 27-29, 34, 36, 37, 39-47, 50, 125,128-131, 
133 ; natural bridges, 47, 49 ; natural divi- 
sions, 62 ; never connected with the Amer- 
ican continent, 41 ; " The Pearl of the An- 
tilles," 33, 53 ; people, 97-106, 387, 389 ; phys- 
ical features, 33 et seq.; population, 18, 
97, 106 ; poultry, 81 ; the press, 71, 72 ; pub- 
lic improvements, 65, 135, 138-141 ; quaran- 
tine against, 87, 405; railways, 88, 89, 122- 
124, 126, 127, 130, 137-140; rainfaU, 61, 90; 
representation in the Cortes, 70; re- 
sources, 76-85 ; revolts in : 1829, 66 ; 1844, 66 ; 
1849, 66, 67; 1860, 66, 67; 1861, 66, 67, 109; 
1855, 67; 1868, 66, 67, 108, 127; 1895, 66, 68; 
rights of speech, 71 ; rivers, 31, 45-48, 60, 
90; sanitation, 57-61, 70, 73, 107, 113, 114, 
140, 142,389; ship-biiilding, 64; shipping, 
109, 120, 122-125,129, 133, 141; size compared 
with Spain, 36 ; slave plot, 67 ; slavery, 64, 
204, 284 ; snow, 51 ; social progress, 283 ; 
Spanish army, 69; Spanish rule, 25, 291; 
spoliation of, 66-76, 78, 92, 141 ; starvation 
in, 106; summer resorts, 57; tarifl", 136; 
telegraph lines, 90, 91 ; timber, 41, 53, 54, 81, 
91, 94 ; torture in, 71 ; trade with : Great 
Britain, 92 ; Porto Eico, 159, 160, 162, 179 ; 
Spain, 92, 93 ; United States, 92-95 ; United 
States' intervention in, 96, 96, 404, 408 ; vir- 
tue in, 101, 102 ; waterfalls, 47, 49 ; wealth, 
91; as a winter resort, 142, 143; yellow 
fever, 113, 121. • 

Cubans, their cause, 101 ; the Cuba of the, 
63 ; education and refinement, 101, 102 ; 
exiled, 101 ; family ties, 102 ; hospitality, 
102; in Jamaica, 211; penal colony of 
revolutionist, 144; spoliation and exter- 
mination of, 65-75 ; women, 101-103 

" Cuban Saratoga," the, 49 

Cuchillas, the, 42, 43, 48, 80 

Cul-de-sac, Haiti, 264, 280 

Culebra, 21, 24, 182, 183, 309, 311 

Culebrinas, Rio, 148 

Culebrita, 21 

Cumani, 366 

Cuna-Cuna, 189 

Cuna-Cuna Pass, 223 

Cupey Mountain, Cuba, 49 

Curacao, 23, 25, 151, 306, 366, 371, 372 ; admin- 
istration, 26, 372 ; area, 19, 371 ; liqueur, 
372 ; people, 388 ; population, 19, 371 

Cutting-grass-spots, 195 

Cuyajabos, Rio, 47 

Cuyul, Rio, 151 

Cyclidae, the, 56 

Cyprinodontidse, the, 66 



416 



INDEX 



Dame Marie, Cape, 281 

Dancing, in Haiti, 286, 287 

Danish Antilles, 25,26,306, 311-316; visiting, 

Danish people, in the West Indies, 388 

Davy, Dr., on the Grenadines, 363 

Deans River, 195 

Decree of 1825, Cuba, 65, 71 

Deep-sea explorations, 13-16 

Deer, in Barbuda, 321, 322 

De Grasse, Admiral, defeated by Rodiiey, 
360, 404 

De la Hotte Mountains, 244 

Delgris, S. T., suicide of negroes under, 340 

Demerara, trade with Barbados, 375 ; visit- 
ing, 406 

Denmark, West Indian possessions, 25, 26, 
306, 311-316; tries to sell St. Thomas, 313 

Department of the North, Haiti, 267 

Department of the South, Haiti, 267 

Descalabrado, Rio, 148 

Descourtils, M. S., researches into Haitian 
flora, 264 

Ddsirade, 19, 23, 25, 325, 341, 373 

Despoblado, 250, 251 

Despotism: in Cuha, 65-75, 99, 104, 106; 
Haiti, 265, 266 

Dessalines, Jacques, Emperor of Haiti, 254, 
265 ; issues declaration of Haitian inde- 
pendence, 277 

Deux Mamelles, 338 

Dhool-dhools, 331 

Dialect: in Haiti, 286; Jamaica, 232, 233, 
286 

Diamond Rock, Martinique, 354 

Diana Key, 84 

Diarrhea : in Cuba, 58 ; Jamaica, 200 

Dickens, Charles, on the "nigger," 227 

Diputacion Provincial, San Juan, 175 

Divi-divi, in St. Thomas, 314 

" Doctor," the, 11 

Dogs, in Barbuda, 321 

Dogs, the, 319 

Dominica, 23-25, 151, 236, 306, 326, 328, 329, 
337, 342-345, 352, 357-360, 401, 403, 404; ad- 
ministration, 344; agriculture, 343, 344; 
area, 19, 342 ; climate, 342 ; commerce, 342- 
344; disco very, 344; emigration, 344; pop- 
ulation, 19, 343 ; religion, 343 

Dominicans, 236 

Dondon, 242, 282 

Dougald, Donald, of Barbuda, 322 

Drinking-water : in Cuba, 140, 141 ; in the 
tropics, 60 

Drouillard, 280 

Drown Island, 315 

Dry Harbor, 196 

Dry River, 196 

Dumas, Alexandre, Sr., 281, 388 

" Duppy," the, 229, 232, 395 

Durocher, Colonel, engineering worl: of, 
244 

Dutch, in the West Indies, 388 

Dutch West Indies, 306, 366, 371, 372 

Dyewoods : in Grand Cayman, 234 ; Ja- 
maica, 213 

Dysentery: in Cuba, 57, 58, 140; Jamaica, 
200 ; Porto Rico, 153 

Earthquakes, reputed destruction of Atlan- 
tis, 381; at Cape Haitien, 275, 276; in 
Caracas, 361; Cuba, 52; Guadeloupe, 341 ; 
Haiti, 276, 276, 280; Jamaica, 221; Marti- 
nique, 348, 353; Port-au-Prince, 280; St. 
Vincent. 361; Santo Domingo, .'>61, 280; 
West Indies. 62, 305, 400; in 1693, 221; 1770, 
280; 1812,361; 1839,353; 1842,275; 1843,341 
Eastern Department of Cuba, 63 
Ebony : in Jamaica, 213 ; Porto Rico, 149 



Education : in Cuba, 70, 73-75, 113 ; Jamaica, 
206, 207, 214; Porto Rico, 157 

Edwards, Bryan, on the prosperity of Ja- 
maica, 204 

Eggers, Baron H. F. A., on the flora of 
Porto Rico, 149 

Eggs, in Jamaica, 235 

El Cobre, 130 

Electric roads, 140 

Eleuthera, 298. 299, 302, 303 

Elfs, belief in, 396 

Eljunki, 133 

El Potrerillo, 42 

El Templada, mineral springs of, 49 

Emancipation: in Brazil, 289; Cuba, 103, 
104 ; Guadeloupe, 340 ; Haiti, 288, 289, 291, 
294; Jamaica, 204, 205; St. Kitts, 331; St. 
Thomas, 314; Santo Domingo, 237; Tor- 
tola, 315 ; United States, 103 ; West In- 
dies, 103, 400 

Engano Point, 241 

England, American colonial revolution, 
290, 291; bucaneers of, 64, 253, 289; cap- 
tures Havana, 64 ; Cuban iron-trade, 82 ; 
education of Cubans in, 101; emigration 
to Jamaica, 204; expedition to Haiti, 292; 
naval preeminence, 360; occupies the 
Bahamas, 300 ; struggles in the West In- 
dies, 64, 203, 238, 253, 292, 300, 360, 368, 400, 
404 ; struggle with France, 360 ; treaty of 
Paris (1763), 64; urges the independence 
of Haiti, 294. See also Great Bbitain 

English Antilles, 306 

"English in the West Indies, The," 
(Fronde), cited, 403 

English race in the West Indies, 387-390 

Ennery, 278 

Enriquillo, Laguna, 248 

Ensenada Honda, 158 

Eocene epoch and formations, 40, 41, 83, 
374 

Epping Forest Cave, 197 

Equatorial current, the, 10, 23 

Ermita del Santo Cristo Church, San Juan, 
175 

Escalera de Jaruco, 42 

Escaliers, Les, 244 

Escribanos, 182 

Esperanza, 126 

Espinosa, on tlie Porto Rican people, 166 

Estevan, an early negro explorer, 104 

Estrella, La, 128 

£tang Duricie, 281 

£tang Sale, 249 

Europe, beet^sugar in, 137 ; cable communi- 
cations with Cuba, 90 ; conquered by the 
Atlauteans, 381 ; trade with : Porto Rico, 
162 ; Trinidad, 367 

" Ever-faithful Island," the, C5 

Evil spirits, belief in, 394-399 

Ewarton, 192 

Executions, in Cuba, 100 

Exuma, 302 

Fairies, belief in, 396 

Fajardo, 158, 180, 181 

Fajardo, Rio, 148 

Fallow-deer, in Barbuda, 321, 322 

Falmouth, Jamaica, 223 

Familiarity, in the United States, 402 

Fer-de-lance : in the Caribbe^s, 328; Marti- 
nique, 347. 351 ; St. Lucia, 359 

Fevers : in Cuba. 57-61, 140, 143 ; Haiti, 279 ; 
Jamaica, 200, 201; Porto Rico, 153; West 
Indies, 388, 389 

Fig-tree Church, Nevis, 333 

Filibustering expeditions, 81 

Fish : in the Banamas, 20, 299 ; Caiibbees, 
20 ; Cuba, 47, 56 ; Great Antilles, 20 ; Haiti, 



INDEX 



417 



Tish— continued 
281; Jamaica, 199; Martinique, 347, 350; 
Porto Rico, 150, 162, 179 ; Trinidad, 369 

Flamencos, Lake, 148 

Flamingos, in Porto Rico, 150 

Flinter, Colonel, on tlie history and people 
of Porto Rico, 154, 167, 168 

Flogging, in Cuba, 67 

Flor de Carillo, Trinidad city, 125 

Flor de Cuba, 123 

Florida, 7-10, 14, 15, 24, 186, 296-298, 301, 302, 381, 
383, 406 ; communications with the Baha- 
mas, 301, 302; crocodiles, 56; Cubans in, 102; 
former connection with South America, 
2 ; fruit industry, 136 ; the great frost, 210; 
oranges, 81 ; sterile lands, 33 ; tobacco, 102 

Florida Capes, 8 

Florida Keys, the, 15, 18 

Florida, Strait of. See STRAIT OF FlokidA 

Flying fish, in Barbados, 376 

Folk-lore, 393-399 ; in Prance, 398, 399 ; Haiti, 
286 ; Jamaica, 227, 232, 233, 286 

Food-stuffs, in the Antilles, 32 

Foraminifers, 16 

Fort-de-France, 273, 348, 349, 353 

Fort Gustave, St. Bartholomew, 319 

Fort Liberty, 274 

Fort Royal, 353 

Fortunate, on Haiti, 282 

Fortune Islands, 298, 299, 301, 302 

Fossils, 14 

France, West Indian possessions, 25: Do- 
minica, 343, 344; Grenada, 364; Guade- 
loupe, 337-342 ; Martinique, 348 ; Montser- 
rat, 334 ; St. Bartholomew, 319, 320 ; 
St. Kitts, 332 ; St. Lucia, 358, 360 ; St. Mar- 
tin, 402 ; Santo Domingo, 237-239, 253, 254, 
289 ; bucaneers and pirates of, 64, 253, 289 ; 
cable communication with Haiti, 276 ; cru- 
elty in the West Indies, 170; diplomatic 
relations with Haiti, 270; education of 
Cubans in, 101 ; education of Haitians in, 
285, 286; England's struggle with, 360; 
f olt-lore, 398, 399 ; Haitian coffee in, 271 ; 
influence of the Revolution in the West 
Indies, 289, 290; loses Haiti, 254, 294 ; loss 
of West Indian possessions, 360 ; occupa- 
tion of Haiti, 273, 275-277, 293 ; precipitates 
troubles in Haiti, 291, 293 ; revolt of Haiti, 
65 ; struggles for the West Indies, 368, 400 ; 
trade with: Haiti, 269, 271, 273 ; Porto Rico, 
162 ; witchcraft in, 394, 398, 399 

Frederiksted, St. Croix, 316 

Freebooting, in the West Indies, 400. See 
also BucANEEES ; Pirates 

Freemasonry, in Haiti, 267, 268 

Free trade, 401, 405 

French Antilles, 306 

French race, in the West Indies, 387, 388, 
390, 394, 398, 399 

French West Indies, visiting the, 406 

Friends of the Blacks, the, 291 

Frou, 282 

Froude, J. A., on the West Indies, 216, 225, 
343, 344, 387, 403, 408 

Fruits : in the Antilles, 31, 32 ; Cuba, 80, 81, 
94, 95, 131-133, 135, 136 ; Jamaica, 223, 231 ; 
Porto Rico, 160, 178, 179, 181-183 ; West In- 
dies, 388, 403 ; use of, 60, 61. See also spe- 
cific kinds 

Funda, Lake, 249 

Funeral customs, in Haiti, 286 

Furey, 280 

Fustic, in Cuba, 53, 81 ; Jamaica, 198 

Gabb, "W. M., investigates mineral re- 
sources of Santo Domingo, 245, 249, 257 
Galapagos Islands, the tortoise in, 150 
Galveston, Texas, 7, 186 

27 



Gambling, in Porto Rico, 167 

Gas, in Cuba, 380 

Genoa, the lemons of, 136 

Georgia, emigration to Turfes Island, 304 ; 

superstition, 397, 398 

Germany, beet-sugar, 77; commercial In- 
fluence in San Domingo, 261 ; diplomatic 
relations vrith Haiti, 270; occupation of 
Haiti, 277; trade with: Haiti, 269, 274; 
Porto Rico, 162 

Geysers, in Dominica, 342 

Gibara, 42, 86, 132 

Gibaros, in Porto Rico, 166-168 

" Gibraltar of the New World," the, 277 

" Gibraltar of the AVest Indies," the, 331 

Ginger, in Jamaica, 208, 213, 215 

Ginger Island, 310 

Glaciers, in North America, 385 

Glass W^indow, Eleuthera, 299 

Gnomes, belief in, 396 

Goats : in Anegada, 315 ; Barbuda, 321 ; 
Cuba, 81 ; Santo Domingo, 250, 255 

" Goat without horns," the, 229 

Gobiernos, 63 

Gold : in the Antilles, 32 ; Cuba, 64, 82, 380 ; 
Porto Rico, 151 ; Santo Domingo, 252, 253, 
257, 258, 272, 380; Trinidad, 367 

Gomez, General, 69 

Gonaives, 264, 275, 277, 278 

Gonaives, Gulf of, 244, 248, 252, 278 

Gonave Island, 239, 244, 204 

Gonave Peninsula, 242 

Gordontown, 188 

Gosse, P. H., on the fauna of Jamaica, 199 

Gottschalk, introduces Adelina Patti in 
Santiago, 130 

Gourde, the, 269 

Govadonga, San Juan, 175 

Gracias a Dios, Cape, 4, 186 

Granadilla, the, 53 

Grand Bourg, 342 

Grand Cave, 197 

Grand Cayman, 234, 235 

Grande Anse du Diamante, 348, 349, 353, 354 

Grande Riviere du Nord, 282 

Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, 319, 325, 339, 341, 
373 

Grand Savanna, Dominica, 343 

Grand Seminary of Haiti, Paris, 268 

Grand Turk Island, 303, 304 

Gran Hotel Inglaterra, La, Havana, 110, 111 

Gran Piedra, La, 40 

Grape-fruit, in Jamaica, 210 

Grapes, in Jamaica, 211 

Grazing, in Cuba, 81, 137 

Great Abaco, 299, 302 

Great Antilles, the, 6, 8, 12, 20-24, 27-33, 146, 
185, 236, 238, 240, 296, 305, 309, 310, 380, 382- 
385; American domination in the, 404; 
area, 18, 21 ; climate, topography, etc., 21 ; 
the geographic center, 236 ; mountains, 39; 
population, 18, 32 ; rivers, 31, 32 

Great Bahama, 302 

Great Bahama Bank, 298 

Great Britain, abolition of slavery, 204; 
American tribute to, 222 ; beneficence of 
her rule, 32, 74; bombards Cape Haitien, 
275; coloinal system, 90, 105, 201-208, 214- 
217, 229, 230, 233, 300, 304, 311, 325, 368-370, 
375, 401-404, 408 ; diplomatic relations with 
Haiti, 270; friendship for the United 
States, 404; intervention in Haiti, 408; 
loss of American colonies, 360; posses- 
sions in the West Indies, 24-20 : Bahamas, 
300; Dominica, 344; Guadeloupe, 340; 
Haiti, 277; Martinique, 348, 354; Mout- 
serrat, 334,335; St. Kitts, 332; St. Lucia, 
358-360; Virgin Islands, 311, 314, 315; re- 
spect for law, 402; trade with: Bahamas, 



418 



INDEX 



Great Britsiin—conthnied 
301 ; Barbados, 375, 377 ; Cuba, 92 ; Gua- 
deloupe, 341 ; Haiti, 269. 273; Jamaica, 211, 
215, 218; Porto Rico, 159, 162; Triuidad, 
367; triumpli over yellow fever, 59; West 
ludiau uaval stations, 359. Bee also Eng- 
land 

" Great hurricane " of 1786, 12 

Great Inagua, 298 

Great Plains, the, 5, 11 

Great River, 190, 191, 193, 196 

Great Sound, 234 

Green Bay, 201 

Green Key, 298 

Grenada, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26, 326, 360, 362-365, 370 

Grenadines, the, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26,360, 363, 
304 

Gros Morne, 277, 278, 282 

Grosse Montagne, 338 

Guadeloupe, 12, 15, 23, 25, 34, 151, 306, 319, 325, 
326, 328, 329, 337-342, 344, 345, 352, 357, 358, 
360, 373, 403 ; administratiou, 25, 341 ; ag- 
ricultiu-e, 338-340; area, 19, 338; climate, 
339 ; commerce, 341 ; commumcations, 
337, 340; currency, 341; education, 341; 
finances, 341 ; {jeolog^cal features, 338- 
340 ; mountains, 338 ; people, 338, 340, 388 ; 
population, 19, 342; quarantine against, 
405 ; trade with Porto Rico, 159, 160 ; vis- 
iting, 406 

Guajaba, 38 

Guajataca, Rio, 148 

Guamani, Rio, 148 

Guanabacoa, 57, 63, 84, 98, 117 

Guanajay, 63, 88, 118 

Guanajay, Rio, 47 

Guanajibo, Rio, 148, 181 

Guanica, 151, 158 

Guanica, Lake, 148 

Guantanamo, 37, 39, 44, 63, 86, 89, 90, 131, 132, 
136, 141 

Guarabo, Rio, 125 

Guatemala, 4, 0, 8, 228 

Guayama, city, 156 

Guayama, department, 156, 165, 181 

Guayanes, Rio, 148 

Guiana, 377 

Guinea-fowl, in Barbuda, 321 

Guinea-grass: in Grand Cayman, 234; St. 
Thomas. HV> ; Santo Domingo, 248 

Guines, 63, H8, 117 

Gulf of Atrato, 186 

Gulf of Gonaives, 244, 248, 252, 278 

Gulf of Honduras, the, 9, 186 

Gulf of Maracaibo, 365 

Gulf of Mexico, 2, 5, 7-11, 13, 16, 17, 21, 34, 35, 
104, 382, 385 

Gulf of Paria, 366, 367 

Gulf of San Nicolas, 252 

Gulf Stream, 9, 10, 299, 383 

Gun Key, 234 

Gurabo, 151 

Habana, toimdation of, 64 

Haiti, 26, 35, 104, 105, 186, 201, 202, 230, 238, 
244, 246, 248, 250-254, 256, 259, 338, 380, 385 ; 
administratiou, 25, 266; agriculture, 271, 
272, 280 ; area, 263 ; army, 266, 2i)7 ; auton- 
omy, 291; cable communication, 276; 
cannibalism, 392; ceded to France, 254; 
citizenship, 265, 2G6; civilization, 32; cli- 
mate, 276, 277, 279, 280; coast-line and 
harbors, 245, 264, 273-278, 280-282; Code 
Napoleon, 266; commerce, 269, 273, 274; 
communications with : New York, 405, 
406 ; St. Thomas, 313 ; concordat with 
Rome, 267, 268 ; dialect, 286 ; diplomatic 
relations, 270 ; di.seases, 279 ; earthquakes, 
275, 276, 280 ; education, 265, 268, 269, 285 ; 



empire of Dessalines, 254 ; English and 
Spanish expeditions to, 292 ; expulsion of 
the French from, 294 ; finances, 269 ; finan- 
cial probity, 270 ; flora, 264 ; French cruel- 
ties in, 170; French invasion of, 293; 
French possession, 289; fruit, 263, 272; 
hostility to San Domingo, 251, 252, 254; 
immigration, 295; islands attached to, 
264 ; language, 285, 286 ; legislation, 266 ; 
maroons, 242 ; minerals, 272 ; money, 269 ; 
morality, 286-289 ; mountains, 27-29, 39, 
263, 264, 279, 280 ; name, 236, 240 ; navy, 267 ; 
negro nomenclature, 287 ; peninsulas, 29, 
30; people, 170, 267-269, 284-295, 388, 392, 
393, 396, 398, 399; population, 283, 284; 
post-office, 272 ; press, 265 ; quarantine 
against, 405 ; race hatred in, 291, 292, 294 ; 
railways, 276, 278; rainfall, 273; recogni- 
tion of its independence, 267; religion, 
265, 267-269 ; the republic, 236, 242, 254, 263- 
295 ; revolt in, 65 ; rivers, 264, 276, 278, 281, 
282 ; roads, 272, 273 ; shipping, 272-275, 282 ; 
slavery, 284, 285, 287, 289-293 ; social prog- 
ress, 283, 287-289, 294, 295 ; Spanish posses- 
sion, 289; stormy history, 284, 289-295; 
struggles, 408; superstition, 267, 283, 287, 
290 ; union with San Domingo, 295 ; va- 
rious forms of government, 294, 295 ; vau- 
douxism, 393, 396, 398, 399 ; vicissitudes in 
her history, 254 ; visiting, 406 

Haitian Sea, the, 9 

Halifax, N. S., cable communications, 90; 
trade and communications vrtth the Ba- 
hamas, 301, 303 

Hamburg- American Packet Company, West 
Indian service, 313 

Hamburg Mail Steamship Company, Hai- 
tian service, 274 

"Hamiky," 203 

Hamilton, Alexander, 333, 388 

Hanover, 191, 195 

Harbor Island, 302 

Harmigueros, 151 

"Harnt," the, 229; in the United States, 
395. See also Supekstition 

Harris, Joel Chandler, 233 

Hart, Captain John S., Cuban interests, 81; 
filibustering, 81 ; conviction, 81 

Hatillo Maimon, 245 

Haunts, belief in, 395. See also "Haunts"; 
Superstition 

Havana, 35, 38, 40-42, 45-48, 62-66, 69, 71, 74, 
75. 85-90, 107-119, 122. 123, 126, 127, 141, 145, 
185, 211, 260 ; bishopric, 74 ; buildings, 110 ; 
cable communications, 90; captured by 
the English, 64, 204 ; carnival, 117 ; cathe- 
dral, 74, 112, 113 ; charities, 113 ; cigars, 
80, 87; climate, 50-52; Columbus's re- 
mains, 261 ; costume. 111, 116 ; diseases, 
58, 59 ; foreign trade, 115 ; fortifications, 
64 ; foimdation, 64, 108 ; Gran Hotel In- 
glaterra, 110,111; hurricane of 1846,52; 
industries, 117 ; the " Key of the New 
World," 33, 108; lottery, 72; mortality, 57, 
117; motto, 33, 108; people, 59, 103, 108, 
117 ; population, 98, 99 ; the Prado, 111 ; 
sanitation, 118, 314; society, 116, 117; 
Tacon's improvements in, 66, 71 ; theater 
and opera. 111, 112; tonnage, 87; trade 
with Haiti. 274; University, 75, 112, 113; 
visiting, 406 ; Volunteers, 100, 111 ; water- 
supply, 140 

Havana, Bishop of, statement as to inter- 
ments, 106 

Havana, province, 41, 44, 46, 62, 84, 156; 
area, 97 ; population, 97 ; reconcentrados 
in, 106 

Havre, trade with Haiti, 273 

Hawaii, United States' annexation of, 404 



INDEX 



419 



"Hayti; or, The Black Republic" (St. 
John), cited, 283, 392 

Hazard, Samuel, on the Cuban character, 
102 ; on the city of Cardenas, 122 ; on the 
San Domingoans, 259 

Hearn, Lafcadio, on the appearance of 
Nevis, 332; on the appearance of St. 
Kitts, 330 ; on the Martinique Jardin des 
Plantes, 351-353 ; on the people of Mar- 
tinique, 354, 355, 387; his "Two Years in 
the French West Indies," cited, 338 

Hector River, 191, 192, 196 

Helix picta, 56 

Hematite, in Cuba, 82 

Hemp, in Jamaica, 214 

Henri, King of Haiti, 275 

Heredia, 101 

Hermanos, Marques dos, 114 

Hermanos, Marquis d', on the character of 
Toussaint L'Ouverture, 294 

Herrera, Antonio, 123 

Heureaux, General Ulysses, President of 
San Domingo, 255 

Hicks River, 196 

Hides : in Barbuda, 322 ; Cuba, 131 ; Porto 
Rico, 161 ; Santo Domingo, 255 

Highways : in Cuba, 89 ; Jamaica, 90 

Himalayas, 31 

Hispaniola, 236 

Hoe, Rio, 196 

Hole in the Wall, Great Abaco, 299 

Holguin, 63, 98, 107, 126, 127 

Holland, manufacture of curagao in, 372 ; 
pirates of, 64; possession of: Curacao, 
371; St. Martin, 320, 402; trade with: 
Haiti, 273; Trinidad, 367; West Indian 
possessions, 25, 26, 328-330, 366, 371, 372 

Honduras, 4, 8, 13, 186, 228 ; deportation of 
Caribs to, 362 

Honduras, Gulf of, 186 

Honduras Sea, 24 

Honey: in Cuba, 91, 127; Porto Rico, 163; 
Santo Domingo, 255, 269 

Hoodooism, in the United States, 394-399. 
See also Vatjdoux ; Vaudouxism ; Voo- 

DOOISM 

Hope Gardens, Jamaica, 214 

Hope River, 188 

Horses: in Anguilla, 319; Barbuda, 321; 
Cuba, 81, 111, 137; Grand Cayman, 234; 
Jamaica, 215 ; Porto Rico, 161 ; Santo Do- 
mingo, 250 ; Tobago, 371 

Horseshoe Reef, 15, 315 

Hospitality, in Porto Rico, 167 

Hospital of Santa Rosa, San Juan, 176 

Hotel Inglaterra, San Juan, 175 

Houlemont, the, 338 

Howell, J. C, deep-sea explorations by, 14 

Humacao, city, 156, 181 

Humacao, department, 156, 165 

Humacao, Rio, 148 

Human sacrifices, in Jamaica, 229. See 
also Cannibalism 

Humboldt, Baron F. H. A. von, on the 
scenery of Cuba, 42 ; climatic records in 
Cuba, 52; on the flora of Cuba, 53 

Humidity, 13 

Humming-bird, the, 56 

Hurricanes, 12, 52, 305; in Antigua, 325; 
Cuba, 12, 52 ; Guadeloupe, 341 ; Marti- 
nique, 348 ; Montserrat, 336 ; Poi-to Rico, 
152 ; St. Thomas, 312, 313 ; in 1786, 12 ; 1819, 
312 ; 1837, 312 ; 1846, 52 ; 1867, 313 ; 1896, 52, 
336 

Hyde, John, statistics of Cuban trade by, 
93-95 

Hygiene, rules of, 60, 61 

Hypnotism, connection with witchcraft, 
394 



Ice, in Jamaica, 215 

Icotea de Limon, 249 

Iguana : in Cuba, 55 ; Santo Domingo, 260 

lie de la Tortue, 239, 250, 276 

lie du Rhone, 363 

Illegitimacy, in Jamaica, 228 

India, coolies in Trinidad from, 369 

Indian corn, 53 

Indians : in Porto Rico, 166 ; Santo Do- 
mingo, 238; murder of Columbus's men 
by, 252 

Indigo, in Haiti, 272, 289 

Injuriado, 79, 80 

Inquisition, in Santo Domingo, 253 

Insanity, in Cuba, 113 

Insects, in Jamaica, 199 

Institute of Jamaica, 206 

Intendencia, the, San Juan, 175 

Intermittent fever : in Cuba, 57 ; Porto Rico. 
153 

Intestinal diseases, 58 

Intransigents, 99 

Ipswich River, 193 

Ireland, emigration to Jamaica, 203, 204 

Irish dialect among Bahama negroes, 301 

Irish negroes, 390 

Iron : in the Antilles, 32 ; Cuba, 81, 82, 131, 
141, 380 ; Porto Rico, 151, 162 ; Santo Do- 
mingo, 245, 258, 272, 380 

Ironwood, in Martinique, 346, 347 

Isabella, Santo Domingo, 245, 252 

Isabel Segunda, 183 

Islas de Pasaje, 183 

Isle of Pines, 24, 36, 38, 44, 53, 56, 117, 124, 136, 
143, 144, 183; cable cpmmunication with 
Havana, 90 ; oranges, 81 ; people, 102 ; 
Spanish penal institution, 69 

Isthmus of Panama, 35, 381 ; communica- 
tions with New York, 405 

Italy, negro soldiers in, 340 ; United States' 
trade with, 93 

Jacaguas, Rio, 148 

Jacmel, 245, 273-275, 281, 282 

Jagua, Bay of, 123 

Jamaica, 4, 7, 9, 11-13, 16, 21, 24-26, 35, 55, 129, 
150, 185-236, 238, 240, 249, 256, 393, 404 ; abo- 
lition of slave-trade, 204 ; administration, 
25, 375; administrative connection with 
Turks and Caicos islands, 303, 304 ; agri- 
culture, 204, 208-215, 228 ; the alphabet in, 
232, 233 ; apprenticed labor in, 370 ; area, 
18, 146, 147, 186, 208, 226 ; attached islands, 
233-235; British rule, 201-208, 214-217; 
cable communications, 90, 276; caverns, 
196, 197 ; cities and villages, 219-223 ; cli- 
mate, 200, 201, 219, 235 ; coast-line and har- 
bors, 186, 188, 190, 193, 194, 197, 200, 
223, 224, 234, 235 ; commimication with : 
Cuba, 87; New York, 405, 406; Cubans 
in, 102 ; death-rate, 201, 389 ; dialect, 
232, 233, 286; diseases, 200, 201; disturb- 
ances in, 205; earthquakes, 221; econ- 
omy, 211 ; education, 206, 207, 214 ; eman- 
cipation, 204, 205; emigration to Haiti, 
295; English possession of, 360; expulsion 
of yeUow fever from, 59; fauna, 199, 200, 
206 ; finances, 207, 208 ; flora, 188, 189, 195, 
197-199, 206; fruit, 188, 198, 210, 211, 214; 
geographical situation and features, 3, 4, 
185 et seq.; geological featiu-es, 189-194 ; 
healthfulness, 57 ; hospitality, 202; hotels 
and inns, 225 ; judiciary, 206 ; labor, 142 ; 
markets, 231, 232; maroons, 104 ; military 
station, 359 ;mineral springs,225 ; miscege- 
nation, 226; morality, 228-230; mountams, 
27-31, 186-194, 196, 197, 200, 229, 230 ; name, 
203 ; people, 203-205, 207, 214, 216, 219, 223- 
235, 285, 389; political divisions, 205 ; popu- 



420 



INDEX 



Jamaica— coH<tnwerf 
lation, 18, 225, 226 ; prison system, 200 ; 
railways, 209, 216, 217, 223, 228 ; religion, 
207 ; rivers, 191-197 ; roads, 90, 217, 224; sani- 
tation, 105, 200-202, 205, 206 ; sava^rery, 229 ; 
seized by the English, 203; shippius, 209- 
211, 217, 218. 223, 235 ; Spauisll occupation, 
203 ; summit of prosperity, 204 ; supersti- 
tion, 2>9, 395, 396 ; telefa'aph lines, 217 ; 
trade- winds, 11 ; trade with Barbados, 375 ; 
visiting, 406 

Jamaica, Cuba, 89 

Jamaica Agricultural Society, 214 

Jamaican Channel, the, 16 

Japan, trade with the United States, 93 

Jardin des Plantes, Martinique, 351-353 
ardines, the, 37, 38 
Jardinillos, the, 38, 44 
Jaruco, G3 
Jatibonico, Rio, 47 
Java, sugar in, 77 
Jean Rabel, 282 
Jeffrad, General, President of Haiti, 268, 

283, 295 
Jeremie, 274, 275, 281 
Jerusalem, Jamaica, 193 

Jesus del Monte, 116 
ews, in Jamaica, 203, 204, 207, 223, 226, 227 
Jiguani, 63 
Timonea, 243 
John Crow Hill, 189 
Josephine, Empress, 352, 353, 388 
"'Journal of American Folk-lore," cited, 399 
Juacaro, 123 

Julian II, founds bishopric of Porto Kico, 157 
"Jumbies," 229, 395 
Junki, the, 43 
Jupiter Inlet, 10 
Juragua, 82, 89, 131 
Juragua Company, the, 82 
Jurassic period and formations, 40, 41 

Kaja de Muestos, 151 

KenskofF, 280 

Kentucky, the caves of, 49 

" Key of the New World," the, 33, 108 

Keys, 21, 35-38, 44, 132, 235. See also REEFS 

Key West, 35, 90 

King's House, Kingston, 221, 232 

Kingsley, Charles, on the Grenadines, 363 ; 
on Jamaica, 225 ; on the town of St. 
Thomas, 312 ; on the Virgin Islands, 310 

Kingston, Jamaica, 186, 188, 189, 194, 197, 200, 
206, 207, 211, 215-217, 219-224, 226, 229; Cli- 
mate, 219 ; earthquake of 1693, 221 ; popu- 
lation, 219 ; society, 226 ; trade-winds, 11 

Kingstown, St. Vincent, 26, 361, 362 

King's Valley, 193 

Kittefonians, 331 

Krakatau, explosion of, 361 

Labor : in Antigua, 324 ; Barbados, 376, 378, 
379; Costa Rica, 228; Cuba, 105, 135, 138, 
139, 141, 142, 3811 ; Guatemala, 228 ; Hondu- 
ras, 228 ; Jamaica, 142, 226-228, 370 ; Mar- 
tinique, 356 ; Nicaragua, 228 ; Panama, 
228; Porto Rico, 159, 160, 108, 172, 175, 178, 
182, 184, 389 ; St. Kitts, 331, 332 ; St. Vin- 
cent, 362 ; Trinidad, 309, 370 ; West Indies, 
400-402 

La Brea, 368, 309 

La Caimanera, 89 

La Capilla church, San Juan, 175 

La Carolina, 161 

La Carolina sugar-plantation, 131, 132 

La Catalina, 8H 

La Chanieau, 339 

La Convalecencia, 182 



La Croix des Bouquets, 280, 282 

La Cruz, 129 

L'Acul du Nord, 276 

Ladder, the, Saba, 329 

La Ferriere, fortress of, 242, 276 

Laguna Enriquillo, 248 

La Haute Mountains, 264 

La Isabella, 88 

La Miranao, 114 

Landholding, in tlie West Indies, 401, 402 

Land-turtles : in Barbuda, 150 ; Santo Do- 
mingo, 250; Sombrero, 150; Soutli Amer- 
ica, 150; Trinidad (island), 150 

La Pila, mineral springs of, 49 

La Plaine du Nord, 276 

La Punta, fort of, 108 

Lares, Porto Rico, 152, 179 

Las Cahobas, 282 

Las Casas, Bishop Bartolome, on the Bay 
of Jagua, 123 

Las Casas, Captain-General, brilliant rule 
in Cuba, 64-66, 113 

Las Delicias, Playa, 178 

La Selle Mountains, 244 

La Soufriere, Guadeloupe, 338 

La Soufriere, St. Lucia, 357 

La Soufriere, St. Vincent, 361 

Las Playas, 88 

Las Roques, 23 

Las Tunas, 63, 89 

Latin races : in America, 166, 167 ; Cuba, 
142 ; West Indies, 388 

La Tortue Island, 264 

La Union, 88 

La Vega, 259 

La Vega, city, 245 

" Leeward," the word, 11 

Leeward Islands, 25, 297, 306, 311, 322, 335, 
375 

Le Fran9ois, 353 

Lemons : in Cuba, 131, 132, 136 ; Haiti, 272 ; 
Jamaica, 210; Porto Rico, 150, 179; St. 
Croix, 316 

Le Montine, 353 

Le Moule, 341 

Leogane, 264, 282 

Lepidosteus, the, 56 

Leprosy, in Cuba, 113, 114 

Les Escaliers, 244 

" Les Pays des Revenants," 345 

Les Saintes, 339, 341 

Lesser Antilles, 16, 21, 100, 162, 209, 217, 218, 
236, 273, 297, 305-308, 311, 312, 323, 332, 335, 
359, 365, 371, 382, 401 ; English supremacy 
over, 404 ; immigration, 389 ; slavery, 305- 
307 ; trade vrith : Haiti, 273 ; Jamaica, 217, 
218 ; Porto Rico, 162 

Lia Minga, 332. See also St. Christopher 

Liberian coffee, in Jamaica, 212 

Lignite, in Santo Domingo, 249 

Lignum-vitae : in Cuba, 53 ; Haiti, 271 

Liguanea plain, 188, 194 

L'Ile-4-Vache, 264 

Limbe, 282 

Limbe, Cape, 244 

Limes: in Cuba, 131,132, 136; Dominica, 
342, 344 ; Jamaica, 210; Montserrat, 335 

Limonar, Cuba, 49 

Lincoln, Abraham, recognizes the inde- 
pendence of Haiti, 267 

Little Cayman, 235 

Little Monkey Island, 183 

"Little Paris," Haiti, 275 

Liver complaints : in Cuba, 57 ; PortO Rico, 
153 

Liverpool, England, slave-trade of, 204 

Lizards, in Santo Domingo, 250 

"Llave del Nuevo Mundo," 108. See also 
" Key of the New World" 



I 



INDEX 



421 



Logwood : in Cuba, 53, 81 ; Jamaioa, 198 ; 
Santo Domingo, 255, 269, 271 

Loiza, Rio, 148 

Loma Diego Campo, 2i5 

Lomas de Camoa, 42 

Lomo del Puerto, 126 

London, communications witli the Baha- 
mas, 301 ; Cubans in, 101 ; death-rate, 58 

Long, on the climate of Grand. Cayman, 
235 

Long Island, Bahamas, 298, 302 

Long Key, 302 

Lopez, General Narciso, revolt Of", 60, 67 

Los Molinos, Matanzas, 122 

Los Roques, 365, 366 

Lottery, the, in Cutoa, 72 

Louisiana, 8 ; French colonial life in, 338 ; 
protection of sugar-planters, 404 ; sugar- 
lands, 76 ; TOOdooism, 393-396 

L'Ouverture, Toussaint, 254, 277, 278, 292-294 

Lung troubles, in Cuba, 143 

Lynching, in the United States, 390 

Maceo, Antonio, 104, 132 

Machete, the, in Porto Rico, 168 

Machina wharf, Havana, 110 

Macoris, 259 

Madrid, inquiry into Cuban wrongs at, 67 

Madruga, mineral springs of, 49 

Magari, Rio, 47 

Magdalena, Rio, 3 

Magnetic iron, in Santo Domingo, 245 

Mahan, Captain, records Koduey's victory, 
360 

Mahogany : in the Bahamas, 299 ; Cuba, 53, 
81, 91, 131; Grand Cayman, 234; Mar- 
tinique, 346, 347; St. Croix, 316; Santo 
Dominga^255, 257, 264, 271 

Maize, in Porto Eico, 160 

Maja, the, 56 

Malachite, in Porto Rico, 151 

Malaria: in Cuba, 121 ; Haiti, 279 ; Jamaica, 
200 ; West Indies, 61, 389 

Malarial fever, 57, 61 

" Mamposteria," 260 

Manai, Rio, 248 

Manatees : in Bahamas, 298 ; Cuba, 56 ; Ja- 
maica, 199 

Manati, Rio, Cuba, 126 

Manati, Rio, Porto Rico, 148 

Manchester Parish, 191, 193, 196, 197, 212 

Mandel de los Negros Marron, 244 

Mandeville, 225 

Manganese : in the Antilles, 32 ; Cuba, 82, 
83, 130, 131, 380 ; Santo Domingo, 249, 272, 
380 

Mangos : in Haiti, 272 ; Jamaica, 198 ; Porto 
Rico, 150, 160; St. Croix, 316; St. Kitte, 
331 

Mangrove islands, 15, 24, 37 

Mangroves : in Bahamas, 299 ; Porto Rico, 
174 

Manioc, 53 

Manjack, in Barbados, 377, 381 

Manteca, 203. See also Montego 

Manzanilla Bay, 38, 238, 239, 241, 248 

Manzanillo, 45, 63, 86, 98, 107, 127 

Maracaibo, the Gulf of, 3, 365 

Marble, in Santo Domingo, 249 

Margarita, 19, 23, 365, 372 

Maria Galante, 19, 23, 25, 318, 319, 325, 339, 341, 
342, 373 

Marianao, 57, 88, 117 

Maricao, 152 

Mariel, 40, 118 

Marigot, St. Martin, 320 

Marina, Porto Rico, 174 

Marine fauna and flora : Bahamas, 298 ; Car- 
ibbean Sea, 14-16 



Maroons : in Haiti, 242 ; Jamaica, 104, 205, 
230 

Maroto, 83 

Marriage: in Cuba, 74, 102-104; Haiti, 286 

Marseilles, the lemons of, 136 

Martin, Montgomery, on the island Of St. 
Lucia, 357 

Martinique, 23, 25, 34, 151, 201, 202, 306, 326, 
328, 329, 334, 337, 338, 340, 342, 345-360, 403 ; 
administration, 25, 348; agriculture, 3:j8, 
348, 349 ; altitude, 23 ; area, 19, 345 ; cable 
communications, 353; climate, 347, .348; 
commerce, 348 ; costume, 354, 355 ; earth- 
quakes, 353 ; education, 348 ; fauna, 347, 
351; flora, 345-347, 349, 351-354; forests, 
345-347, 351-353; harbors, 348, 349; intro- 
duction of coffee from, into Cuba, 80 ; la- 
bor, 356 ; mountains, 345, 346 ; people, 285, 
338, 340, 354-356, 387, 388, 395 ; population, 
19, 354 ; quarantine against, 405 ; roads, 
273; superstition, 395; trade with Porto 
Rico, 159, 160 ; visiting, 406 

Martinpena, Lake, 148 

Marvin, A. R., on the minerals of Santo 
Domingo, 249 

Mascarene Islands, the tortoise in, 150 

Masio Bay, 125 

Massachusetts, the great submarine shelf 
off, 22; superstition in, 396, 397 

Matanzas, city, 37, 42, 45, 48, 49, 63, 86, 88, 107, 
108, 117, 120-122, 141 ; climate, 51, 121 ; for- 
tifications, 64; industries, 121; popula- 
tion, 98, 120 ; slave plot, 67 

Matanzas, province, 41, 42, 44-46, 62 ; area, 
97 ; population, 97, 120 ; reconceutrados in, 
106 

Mayaguana, 302 

Mayaguez, city, 156, 157, 161, 172, 178, 179 

Mayaguez, department, 156, 165, 183 

Mayaguez, Rio, 148, 179 

Maymon River, 258 

Maysi, Cape, 35, 44, 132, 136 

Mediterranean Sea, the lemons Of the 
coasts, 136; the Liverpool of the, 137; 
overrun by the Atlanteans, 381 

Memory Rock, 10 

Merced Church, Havana, 112 

Mercury, in Porto Rico, 151 

Mesa Toar, 43, 47 

Mesozoic era and formations, 40 

Mestizos : in Jamaica, 226 ; Porto Rico, 166 

Methodists, in Jamaica, 207 

Mexican Plateau, the, 3, 6 

Mexico, 1, 5, 6, 8, 35, 87, 154, 195, 202, 274 ; 
architecture, 110, ill ; arid lands, 33 ; com- 
munications with New York, 405; con- 
quest of, 368; Cubans in, 102; currency, 
163 ; Spaniards in, 289 ; trade with Jamai- 
ca, 217 ; triumph over yellow fever, 59 

Mexico, Cave of, 196 

Middlesex County, Jamaica, 205 

Milk River, 196 

Milot, 276 . ^ T, 

Mineral and thermal springs: m Cuba, 
119, 142; Dominica, 342; Guadeloupe, 
338; Jamaica, 195, 196, 225; Nevis, 333; 
Porto Rico, 151, 178; St. Lucia, 357 

Minerals. See the names of the various 
islands and of specific kinds 

Minho River, 192, 196 

Minorca, emigration to Jamaica, 204 

Miragoane, 275, 281 

Mirebalais, 282 

Miscegenation: in Barbados, 378; Cuba, 
104; Haiti, 290; Jamaica, 226 

Missionary zeal, misapplied, 288 

Mississippi, 8 

Mississippi River, the, 10 

Misterosa Ridge, the, 29, 30 



422 



INDEX 



Moa, Rio, 47 

Molasses. See SUGAR 

Mole St. Nicolas, 90, 259, 274, 276, 277 

Mona Island, 24, 182, 183 

Mona Passage, 16, 178, 183 

Moneague, l'J2, 196, 203, 225 

Mongoos : in Jamaica, 199 ; Martinique, 
347 

Monito, 183 

Monkey Hill, 331 

Monks, the, 365 

Monologues, the negroes', 286 

Men Rouge, 351 

Montagnes Noires Cahos, 246 

Mont Agua, 203. See also Moneague 

Monte Cristi, 259, 262 

Monte Cristi Mountains, 240, 245, 246 

Montego, 203 

Montego Bay, 194, 195, 216, 217, 223 

Montego River, 195 

Monte Tina, 29 

Montpelier, 225 

Montpelier Sink, 193 

Montpelier Valley, 191, 193 

" Montpellier of the West," 334 

Montserrat, 23, 25, 326, 328, 329, 334^338, 357, 
358 ; admiuietratiou, 335 ; area, 19, 334 ; cli- 
mate, 334: hurricane, 336 ; population, 19, 
335 ; public works, 336 ; -vicissitudes ot Ms- 
tory, 334, 335 

Montserrat, the slu-ine of, Porto Rico, 151 

Moorish architecture, 111 

Morality, in Cuba, 101, 102 ; Haiti, 286-288 

Morant Bay, 223 

Morant Keys, 235 

Moravians, in Jamaica, 207 

Moreau, on yauto Domingo scenery, 243 

Morgan, Sir Henry John, corsair, 204 

Morgan's Gut Valley, 191 

Morne Diabloten, 342 

Morne d'Or, 242 

Morne d'Orange, 350 

Morne du Cap, 245, 246 

Morne Garon, 361 

Morne Parnasse, 351, 352 

Mornes de la Hotte, 244 

Moron, 45, 63 

Moron-Jucara trocha, the, 89 

Morro Castle, Havana, 64, 108-110 

Morro Castle, San Juan, Porto Rico, 173, 
174 

Morro Castle, Santiago, 128 

Morvan, t^upcrstition in, 399 

Mosquito Gulf, the, 9 

Mosquito Reef, the, 9 

Mouchoir Bank, 298 

Mount Busu, 246 

Mount Carbet, 345 

Mount Diablo, 191, 192 

Mount Hillaby, 373 

Mount Liberty, 331 

Mount Misery, 331 

Mount Pelee, 345 

Mount Plenty Cave, 197 

Mouth of the Dragon, 366 

Mouth of the Serpent, 366 

Mouth River Cave, 197 

Muertos, cave of, 151 

Mulattos : in Cuba, 104, 105, 112, 284 ; Guade- 
loupe, 342 ; Jamaica, 204 ; Martinique, 354 ; 
Porto Rico, 284 ; Santo Domingo, 32, 237, 
251, 258, 282, 284, 290, 291 

Mules : in Barbados, 376, 379 ; Cuba, 137 

Mulgrave River, 193 

Murder, in the West Indies, 390 

Murga, 88 

Music, in Haiti, 286, 287 

Mustique, 363 

Naguabo, 181 



Naguabo, Rio, 148 

Nalgo de Maco, 29 

Napoleon, Cuba declares war against, 65; 
overthrows the Spanish dynasty, 65; use 
ot West Indian negroes in his army, 340 

Nashville, Tennessee, superstition in, 397 

Nassau, N. P., 7, 300-302 

Nassau, island of, 25 

Navassa, 24, 26 

Navidad Bank, 298 

Nectarines, in Cuba, 136 

Negroes, as sailors, 301, 321 ; an Irisli brogue 
among, 335 ; labor of, 79 ; love for coun- 
tries of adoption, 295; nomenclature in 
Haiti, 287 ; religious trances, 396 ; respect 
for the whites, 402; revolt in Cuba in 
1844, 66; under Britisli rule, 32; witch- 
craft among, 392-399; in Antigua, 323, 
324; Bahamas, 301, 302, 304; Barbados, 
285, 370, 376, 378, 379; Barbuda, 321, 322; 
Cuba, 97, 99, 103-106, 112, 115, 142, 168, 389; 
Curasao, 371; Dominica, 343; Fortune 
Islands, 301, 302; Grenada, 364; Guade- 
loupe, 340, 342; Haiti, 32, 251, 253, 254, 392; 
Jamaica, 32, 105, 142, 199, 203-205, 212, 214, 
216, 217, 220, 221, 223-233, 235, 285; Lesser 
Antilles, 306, 307; Martinique, 285, 353- 
356; [Montserrat, 335; Nevis, 333; Porto 
Rico, 105, 164r-166, 168-170,389; Saba, 330; 
St. Eustatius, 330; St. Kitts, 331, 332; St. 
Lucia, 359; St. Vincent, 370; Santo Do- 
mingo, 237, 242, 251, 253-260, 265-267, 282- 
295; Soutb America, 170; Trinidad, 169, 
369, 370 ; United States, 105, 390, 391, 393- 
399; Virgin Islands, 311, 313, 315-317; West 
Indies, 104, 105, 168-170, 387, 389-399, 401, 
402. See also Blacks; Colored; Mu- 
lattos; Slavery; Slave-Tr^de 

Nelson, Horatio, marriage in Nevis, 333 

Nesbitt, Mrs. Fanny, married to Horatio 
Nelson, 333 

Nevis, 19, 23-25, 326, 329, 330, 332-334 

Newcastle Barracks, 188, 197 

Newell, W. W., on vaudouxism, 399 

New Orleans, climate of, 152 ; obiism in, 395, 
396; rainfall, 50 

New Providence, 298-300, 302 

Newtown, Matanzas, 121 

New York, cable communications: witli 
Cuba, 91; Haiti, 276; communications 
witb: Bahamas, 301, 303; Central Amer- 
ica, 405; Guadeloupe, 337; Mexico, 405; 
West Indies, 405-407; Cubans in, 102; 
trade witb : Haiti, 273 ; Jamaica, 218, 223 ; 
West Indies, 17 

Neyba River, Santo Domingo, 31 

Niagara River, Jamaica, 191, 193, 196 

Nicaragua, 4, 24, 228 

Nievis, 332. See also NEVIS 

Nipe, Cuba, 47, 86, 132 

Norman Islands, 310 

Norte, El, 52. See also NORTHERS 

North America, the continent of, 1, 2, 5, 383, 
385, 386 

Northers, 12, 52, 158, 173. 180, 183 

Norway, United States' trade with, 93 

Nova Scotia, 4 

Nova Zembla, 10 

Nueva Gerona, 144 

Nuevitas, 63, 80, 86, 89, 127, 132 

Nutmeg, in Trinidad, 367 

Oaxaca, 4 

Ober, F. A., his " Camps in the Caribhees," 
cited, 338 

Obiism: in Barbados, 378; Haiti, 287; Ja- 
maica, 229 ; West Indies, 392-396 

Ocampo, 123 

Occa, Teresa Montes de, 101 



INDEX 



423 



Ocoa, Bay of, 247 

Old Bahama Channel, the, 9, 22 

Old Jerusalem Island, 310 

Old Providence Islands, 24 

Oligocene series and epoch, 41 

Opal, In Santo Doruingo, 249 

Opossum, iu the Baliamas, 299 

Oranges : in the Bahamas, 300; Cuba, 76, 81, 
136 ; Florida, 210 ; Haiti, 272 ; Isle of Pines, 
81 ; Jamaica, 198, 210, 231 ; Martinique, 
350 ; Porto Rico, 150, 178, 179 ; St. Croix, 
316 ; Trinidad, 367 

Oreodoxa regia, 53 

Orinoco River, 4, 7, 8, 186, 286 

Oruba, 366, 372. See also Akuba 

" Our Lady of the Snow," 333 

Oxford Basin, 193 

Ozama River, 248, 260, 261 

Pacific coast, the fruit industry of the, 
136 

Pacific Ocean, 1, 3, 386 

Padre, 132 

Pajita Inlares, cave of, 151 

Paleozoic era and formations, 40, 43, 310, 
384 

Palisades, the, Jamaica, 219, 221 

Palma, Rio, 47 

Palm Beach, Florida, communications with 
the Bahamas, 301 

Palmira, 88 

Palms : in Cuba, 53-55, 79, 129, 144 ; the Carih- 
bees, 327, 331 ; Grand Cayman, 234 ; Ja- 
maica, 198; Martinique, 346, 351-353; 
Porto Rico, 147, 149, 159, 167, 168 ; Trinidad, 
367 ; Virgin Islands, 311, 316 

Panama, 8, 12 ; trade with Jamaica, 217 

Panama, Isthmus of, 1, 4, 6, 9, 35, 228, 270, 
381 

Pan de Guajaibon, 40 

Pan de Matanzas, 42, 44 

Papaimento, 371 

Paradise Peak, St. Martin, 320 

Paria, Gulf of, 366, 367 

Paris, France, Cubans in, 101; education of 
Haitians in, 285, 286 ; the Grand Seminary 
of Haiti, 268 

«' Paris of Haiti," the, 275 

Parrots : in Cuba, 56'; Jamaica, 199 

Partido de Fuera, 62 

Partidos, 63 

Paseo, the, Havana, 111, 115 

Paseo, the, Matanzas, 121 

Patti, Adelina, her d6but in Santiago, 130 

" Pays des Revenants, Les," 345 

Peaches, in Cuba, 136 

Pearl-fisheries, Panama, 300 

" Pearl of the Antilles," the, 53, 408 

Pearls, in the Bahamas, 300 

Pedernales, Rio, 47 

Pedro Bank, 30, 186 

Pedro Keys, 235 

Pedro River, 196 

Pelee, Mount, 345 

Penalver, Conde, 114 

Penones Mountains, 246 

Pentacrini, 15 

Pepper, in Jamaica, 214 

Peru Cave, 197 

Peters Island, 310 

Petionville, 280, 282 

Petit Bourg, 353 

Petit Goave, 274, 275, 281 

Petroleum, in Cuba, 133 

Philadelphia, Cuban manganese in, 83 ; 
Cuban fruit interests, 81 ; trade with Ja- 
maica, 218, 223 

Philadelphia "Evening Telegram," on su- 
perstition in the United States, 398 



Philip I, patron of the Cuban sugar Indus- 
try, 76 

Philipsburg, St. Martin, 320 

Phosphate : in Grand Cayman, 234 ; Haiti, 
272; Sombrero, 319 

Phosphorescent animals, 14 

Pichardo, Esteban, his map of Cuba, 36 

Pico del Potrerillo, 126 

Pico del Turquino, 39 

Pico del Yaqui, 29, 241, 242, 248 

Pijuan, 123 

Pillars of Hercules, 381 

Pimento, in Jamaica, 198, 208, 213, 214 

Pimento-grass, 213 

Pinar del Rio, city, 88, 98, 107, 118, 119 

Pinar del Rio, province, 40, 44, 46, 47, 49, 53, 
62, 63, 76, 79, 90, 117, 118, 143 ; area, 97 ; popu- 
lation, 87, 103, 106 

Pineapples : in Bahamas, 300 ; Cuba, 53, 76, 
81, 136 ; Haiti, 272 ; Jamaica, 210 ; Porto 
Rico, 160, 179 

Pine River, 196 

Pines, Isle of, 36, 38 

Pine timber: in Bahamas, 299; Cuba, 41, 
53 ; Santo Domingo, 243 

Pinones, Lake, 148 

Piracy, in the West Indies, 64, 305, 330, 400. 
See also Bucaneers 

Pitch Lake, Trinidad, 381 

Piton des Canaris, 357, 358 

Pitons, the, 358 

Place Congo, New Orleans, obiism in the, 
395, 396 

Plaine du Nord, La, 276 

Plaisance, 282 

Plaisance, Cape, 244 

Plantains : in Haiti, 272 ; Jamaica, 198, 225, 
231 ; Porto Rico, 160, 167 

Planters, disappearance from the West In- 
dies, 388 

Plata, Rio, 148 

Platanos, 79 

Platinum, in Santo Domingo, 249, 272 

Plato, on the mythical Atlantis, 381 

" Playa," 48 

Playa, Porto Rico, 158, 177 

Playa de Naguabo, 181 

Plaza de Armas, Santiago, 130 

Plaza de Isabella, Havana, 110 

Pleistocene series and epoch, 41, 43, 384 

Pliocene series and epoch, 41, 43 

Plymouth, Montserrat, 334 

Point-a-Pitre, 341, 342 

Poisons, use in the West Indies, 394, 395, 
399 

Politeness, in Haiti, 286, 287 

Polygamy, in Haiti, 286 

Polyps, 15 

Ponce, city, 156-158, 161, 172, 177-179 

Ponce, department, 156, 165 

Ponce de Leon, 154, 174 

Ponupo, 83 

Ponupo Mining Company, the, 83 

Porpoises, in Santo Domingo, 249 

Port Antonio, 189, 217, 223, 228 

Port-a-Piment, 274 

Port-au-Prince, 244, 245, 248-250, 252, 264, 267, 
269, 273-275, 278-280, 282, 283 ; climate, 249, 
250 ; earthquake, 280 ; tires, 280 

Port-au-Prince Bay, 249 

Port de Paix, 275-277 

Porte d'Enfer, 342 

Portland Cave, 197 

Portland Parish, 230 

Port Margot, 264 

Port Maria, 187, 189, 223 

Port Morant, 223 

Port of Spain, 312, 367, 369 

Porto Rico, 13, 16, 21, 22, 24, 25, 185, 186, 198, 



424 



INDEX 



Porto Rico— coHtinued 
202, 236, 238, 258, 296. 297, 305, 309, 311 , 313, 315 ; 
agriculture, 153, 159-163, 172, 179, 181-183 ; 
architecture, 172, 17-1-178, 180, 181 ; area, 18, 
146; autonomy, 156; burial of tlie dead, 
177 ; cable communications, 90, 91 ; caves, 
180, 183 ; ceded to the United States, 154, 
404 ; cities, 172-184 ; civilization, 32 ; cli- 
mate, 147, 151-153, 156, 178, 179, 181, 182, 
184 ; commerce, 158-163 ; communications 
witli: New York, 405, 40G; St. Tliomas, 
313 ; contrasted with Cuba, 145, 140 ; cirr- 
rency, 163; departments, 156; discovery, 
154 ; diseases, 177 ; education, 157, 164-166, 
168, 170, 226 ; electric light and power, 175 ; 
fauna, 150 ; flora, 147-150 ; truits, 149, 150 ; 
future, 184; gas-works, 176, 178; geology, 
150, 151 ; harbors, 148, 158, 172-174, 176, 177, 
179-181, 183 ; highways, 161 ; history and 
administration, 25, 32, 154-157 ; hospital- 
ity, 182; industries, 163, 175, 178-182; isl- 
ands, 165, 182-184 ; land titles, 184 ; loyalty 
to Spain, 155 ; minerals, 151 ; mortality, 
153 ; mountains, 28-30, 147, 150-152 ; peo- 
ple, 146, 154, 157, 164-171, 389 ; population, 
18, 164-170, 172 ; press, 157 ; railroads, 161, 
176, 179 ; relation to Spain, 69 ; religion, 
156, 157; rivers, 147, 148, 153, 159; ship- 
ping, 158, 159, 173, 174, 176, 177, 180; situa- 
tion and physical features, 145-153 ; sla- 
very, 155,204 ; social progress, 283 ; tariflf, 
183 ; telegraph and telephone lines, 162, 
176 ; timber, 149, 161 ; trade with : Cuba, 
179 ; Haiti, 274 ; visiting, 406 ; -water-sup- 
ply, 147, 148, 151-153 

Port Royal, Jamaica, 201, 204, 221 

Portuges, Rio, 148 

Portuguese, in Antigua, 325 

Potatoes, in Jamaica, 211, 214, 231 

Poultry : in Cuba, 81 ; Grand Cayman, 234 ; 
Jamaica, 215 ; Porto Rico, 161 

Pourtales, Count, deep-sea explorations by, 

14 

Powles, on the Bahama " conchs," 801 

Prado, the, Havana, 111 

Precious metals, in the West Indies, 380. 

See also Gold ; Silver 
Presbyterians, in Jamaica, 207 
Presidio Provincial, San Juan, 175 
Press, the : in Cuba, 71, 72 ; Porto Rico, 157 
Preston, Stephen, Haitian minister at 

Washington, 270; on Haitian cannibalism, 

392, 393 
Prieto, Rio, 151 
Princesa, San Juan, 175 
Princestown, 367 

Proverbs : in Haiti, 286 ; Jamaica, 233, 286 
Pteropods, k; 
Puentes Grandes, 117 
Puerta de Espana, 174 
Puerta Plata, 2.TJ, 259, 261, 262 
Puerta Plata Mountains, 246 
Puerto de Tierra, San Juan, 175 
Puerto Principe, i)rovince, 41, 44-47, 62, 63, 

89 ; area, 97 ; cattle, 81 ; population, 97, 103 
Puerto Principe, town, 63, 64, 89, 98, 107, 126, 

127 
Puerto Real de Cabo Rojo, 158 
Pulmonary diseases : in Cuba, 143 ; Haiti, 

279 
Punta Arenas, Vieques, 183 
Punta battery, 115 
Punta Blanca, 129 
Punti fortress, 64 
Pyrenees, the, 29 

Quakers, in Tortola, 315 

Quarantine laws, in the West Indies, 60, 403, 
405 



" Quatties," 232 

Quebec Steamship Company, West Indian 

service, 367, 406 
Quinta, 126 
Quintana, 151 
Quitman, General John A., expedition tc 

Cuba, 67 

Rabbit's foot, power as a charm, 398 
Race prejudice, 169 

Race problems, in the West Indies, 387-399 
Radiolarian earth, 374, 377, 384 
Ragged Island, 302 

Rainfall : in Cuba, 61, 90 ; Haiti, 273 ; Ja- 
maica, 200; Porto Rico, 152; Santo Do- 
mingo, 248-250 
Rainsford, on the character of Toussalnt 

L'Ouverture, 293 
Raleigh, Sir Walter, in Trinidad, 368 
Ramon, 101 

Rape, in the W^est Indies, 390 
Rats, in Jamaica, 199 
Ravine du Sud, La, 281 
Real Audiencia, San Juan, 175 
Reciprocity, between the United States and 

Spanish America, 405 
Reclus, felis^e, estimate of Cuba's area, 36 ; 

on the Haitian people, 285 
Reconcentration, 106 
Recreo, 126 
Redonda, 25 
Reed, George W., monument at Spanish 

To-wn, 222 
Reefs, 12, 22, 37, 38, 41, 86, 151, 180, 239, 298 
Regla, 98, 109 
Remedies, 123, 126 

Reptiles, association with evil spirits, 394, 
396, 397 ; In the Caribbees, 328 ; Jamaica, 
199; MartinicLue, 347; Porto Rico, 150; 
Santo Domingo, 250. 
Republica Dominicana, 254 
Resano, Don Pedro, Porto Rican mineralo- 
gist, 151 
" Revista de Cuba," cited, 97 
Rice : in Jamaica, 214 ; Porto Rico, 160, 162 ; 

Trinidad, 369 
Rio. See the specific name 
Rio Grande, Mexico, 195 
Rio Grande, Porto Rico, 148, 151 
Rio Grande de Arecibo, 180 
Rio Palma, Marquesa de, 114 
Rivas, Don Emilio de, 132 
River Head, 197 
Riviere Salee, 338 
Road Town, Tortola, 315 
Roads. See Highways 
Roaring River, 193 
Rocca, Pedro de la, 128 
Rochambeau, General, expelled from Haiti, 

294 
Rocky Mountains, the, 2-5, 30 
Rodney, Admiral, 222 ; statue in Jamaica, 
222 ; advises England to retain Dominica, 
344 ; victory over De Grasse, 360, 404 
Roman Catholic Church : in Cuba, 74, 75 ; 
Haiti, 267-269; Jamaica, 207; Porto Rico, 
157 
Romano Key, 36, 38 
Roncador Reef, 26, 30 
Rosalind Bank, the, 9, 30, 186 
Rosario, Falls of, 47 
Roseau, 342, 343 

Roume, onthe character of Toussaint L'Ou- 
verture, 293 
Round Rock, 310 
Royal Dutch West India Mail Service 

Company, Haitian service, 273 
Royal Harbor, Antigua, 323 
Royal Jamaica Society of Agriculture, 214 



INDEX 



425 



Royal Mail Steamship Company, West In- 
dian routes, 218, 273, 282, 313, 314, 375, 376, 
406 

Royal palm, the: in Cuba, 53-55, 79, 129; 
Jamaica, 198 

Royal Plain, the, 245 

Ruiz, Dr. E., on the forests of Martinique, 
346, 347 

Rum : in Cuba, 91, 117, 121 ; Dominica, 342- 
344; Grenada, 364; Havana, 117; Ja- 
maica, 209, 215; Martinique, 348; Porto 
Rico, 163, 178, 179, 181 ; Trinidad, 368 

Rum Key, 302, 303 

Saba, 19, 23, 25, 326, 329, 330, 372, 388 

Sabao, 259 

Sagua, 86, 88 

Sagua la Grande, 63, 88, 123 

Sagua la Grande, Rio, 88 

Sagua River, Cuba, 31, 47 

St. Ann Parish, 192, 193, 196, 197, 212 

St. Ann's Bay, 223 

St. Augustine, Florida, 110 

St. Augustine Church, San Juan, 175 

St. Bartholomew, 19, 23, 25, 318, 319 

St. Catherine's Peak, 189 

St. Christopher, 23-25, 319, 326, 329-334 

St. Croix, 18, 315-317 

Ste. Alouise, 357 

St. Elizabeth, 191, 193, 196, 197, 200 

Saintes, the, 15, 25 

St. Eustatius, 19, 23, 25, 326, 329, 330, 372, 388 

St. George, Grenada, 364 

Saint Jago. See SANTIAGO DE CUBA 

St. James Parish, 191, 196 

St. John, 18, 21, 25, 26, 309, 311, 313, 314 

St. John, Antigua, 25, 323 

St. John, Sir Spenser, on Haiti and the 
Haitians, 275, 283-285, 293, 392 

St. Kitts. See St. Chkistophek 

St. Lucia, 23, 25, 34, 221, 306, 326, 328, 329, 
340, 344, 357-360, 364; administration, 25, 
358 ; agriculture, 359 ; area, 19 ; education, 
358; emigration, 344, 359; fortifications, 
359; French outbreat in, 360; French 
ownership, 358, 360; harbors, 358, 359; 
military station, 376 ; population, 19 

St. Louis du Nord, 276 

St ]V[a.rc 27S 

St." Martin, 19, 23, 25, 319, 320, 341, 372, 380,1402 

St. Nicolas Peninsula, 239, 241, 242, 247, 277 

St. Pierre, Martinique, 349-351, 353, 354 

St. Thomas, 12, 16, 21, 25, 26, 151, 183, 186, 
309-315, 337, 359, 401; area, 18, 310; cable 
communications, 313; coast-line and 
harbors, 312-315 ; commerce and commu- 
nications, 313, 314, 406 ; decline, 313, 314 ; 
emancipation, 314; hurricanes, 312, 313; 
languages, 313 ; mountains, 28, 29 ; offered 
to the United States, 313 ; population, 18 ; 
shipping, 313 ; slavery, 314 ; trade with : 
Barbados, 375 ; Porto Rico, 159, 160 ; visit- 
ing, 406 

St. Thomas, Bay of, 252 

St. Thomas, city, 312-314 

St.-Thomas-in-the-Vale, 190-193, 197 

St. Vincent, 15, 22, 23, 25, 26, 326, 357, 360-364 ; 
area, 19, 361 ; emigration, 362, 370 ; land- 
tenure, 402 ; population, 19, 361 

Salem, Massachusetts, superstition in, 396 

Salt, as a vegetable product, 55 ; in An- 
guiUa, 319, 380; Bahamas, 300, 303, 304; 
Cuba, 55, 82, 85, 380 ; Curasao, 371 ; Haiti, 
272 ; St. Martin, 320, 380 ; Santo Domingo, 
262 ; Turks Island, 380 

Salt Island, 310 

Salt Key, 15, 303 

Sam, General Tiresias Simon, President of 
Haiti, 266 



Samana, 259, 262, 298 

Samana Bay, 238, 239, 241, 246, 252, 257-259, 
262 

Samana peninsula, 238, 239, 241, 246 

Sambo Hills, 246 

San Antonio, bridge of, 173 

San Antonio, Cape, 35 

San Antonio, Rio, 47, 48 

San Antonio de los Bafios, 63, 118, 119 

San Catalina fortress, Porto Rico, 174 

Sanchez, 259 

San Cristobal, 62, 63, 118, 119 

San Cristobal fort, Porto Rico, 174 

Sancti Spiritus, 89 

Sandalwood : in Barbuda, 322 ; Haiti, 271 ; 
Porto Rico, 149 

San Diego, springs of, 49 

San Domingo, city, 241, 247, 248, 252, 259-262, 
380-384 

San Domingo, coast-line and harbors, 259- 
262; commerce, 255-257 ; communications 
with St. Thomas, 313; Cuban immigra- 
tion, 255; diplomatic relations with 
Haiti, 270; earthquakes, 261; education, 
256; finances, 255; Haitian negroes sold 
to, 292 ; hostility to Haiti, 251, 252, 254 ; 
language, 258 ; minerals, 257, 258 ; people, 
258-260, 387, 389 ; political and social con- 
ditions, 251 et seq.; population, 258 ; post 
ofiice, 259 ; press, 256 ; question of annex- 
ation to the United States, 254, 255, 404 ; 
railways, 255, 259 ; religion, 256; there- 
public, 236, 243, 247, 251-262, 298; roads, 
259 ; shipping, 259 ; telegraphs, 259 ; union 
with Haiti, 295; vicissitudes in her his- 
tory, 251-255; visiting, 406. See also 
Santo Domingo 

San Domingoans, 236 

San Felipe, 88 

San Fernando, 367, 368 

San Fernando, Cuba, climate, 52 

San Francisco Church, San Juan, 175 

San German, 147, 181 

San Geronimo, San Juan, 175 

Sanitation : in Cuba, 113, 114 ; Jamaica, 1C5 ; 
West Indies, 407 

San Jos€ Church, San Juan, 175 

San Jose de los Mates, 243 

San Juan, Porto Rico. See SAN JUAN BAU- 
tista de Puerto Rico 

San Juan, San Domingo, founded, 252 

San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico, 150-152, 
156-158, 161, 172-179, 184, 260 

San Juan de los Remedios, 63 

San Juan River, Cuba, 120, 122 

San Juan River, Santo Domingo, 241, 248 

San Luis, 89 

San Miguel sulphur baths, Cuba, 49 

San Nicolas, Gulf of, 252 

San Salvador, 6 

Sans Souci, Haiti, 276 

Santa Alalia, cascade of, 151 

Santa Ana Church, San Juan, 175 

Santa Clara, city, 122, 126, 139 

Santa Clara, Cuba, province, 41, 42, 44-46, 
62, 123 ; area, 97 ; cattle, 81 ; population, 97, 
103; reconcentrados in, 106 

Santa Cruz, 19, 25, 151. See also ST. CkOIX 

Santa Elena, San Juan, 175 

Santa Fe, Isle of Pines, 144 

Santa Fe, Rio, 144 

Santa Maria del Rosario, 63 

Santiago, Santo Domingo, 252, 259 

Santiago, valley of, 216 

Santiago Bay, 83 „ „, on 

Santiago de Cuba, 29. 40, 42, 44, 63, 79. 81, 82, 
84-87789. 90, 107, 117, 124, 127-131, 136, 200, 
234; archbishopric, 74 ; battle of, 44; cable 
communications, 90 ; climate, 61, 131 ; 



426 



INDEX 



Santiago de Cuba — continued 
foundation, 64 ; population, 98, 99, 131 ; 
trade with Haiti, 274 ; visiting, 406 

Santiago de Cuba, province of, a9, 42-47, 62, 
63, 81, 89. 97, 103 

Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba, 63 

Santiago de la Vega, Jamaica, 222 

Santiago de los Caballeros, 201, 262 

Santo Domingo, 9, 16, 21, 22, 24, 25, 29, 123, 
145, 183, 185, 190, 202, 203, 236-250, 297, 298 ; 
aborigines, 252 ; administration, 24, 25 ; 
agriculture, 252, 253, 256,257 ; area, 18,238; 

I bones of Columbus, 113 ; climate, 249, 250 ; 
coast-line and barbors, 238, 239, 241, 246, 
248. 259-262 ; communications with New 
York, 405, 406 ; curreiicv, 250 ; discovery, 
237, 245, 252; earthquakes, 261, 275, 276; 
emancipation, 237 ; emigration to Porto 
Eico, 155 ; faima, 242, 249, 250 ; flora, 243, 
246, 247 ; fruits, 257, 263, 272 ; geology, 249, 
384; lakes, 241, 245, 240. 248, 249; lost to 
Spain, 05 ; minerals, 245, 249, 257, 258, 271, 
272 ; mountains, 29, 30, 239-250 ; people, 251 
et seq., 389; population, 18; post-office, 
259 ; quarantine against. 405; railways, 255, 
259 ; repulse of the English from, 203 ; riv- 
ers, 240, 242, 243, 245, 246, 248, 264, 276; 
roads, 259; slavery, 237 ; Spanish occupa- 
tion, 248, 249, 290; stormy history, 237, 
248, 252-255, 258; superstition, 245; tele- 
graphs, 259 ; trade with Porto Eico, 159. 
See also Haiti; San Domingo 

Santo Domingo, Cuba, 88 

Santo Domingo Improvement Company, 
255, 256 

Santo Espiritu, Cuba, 63, 64, 98, 107 

Santo Espiritu, Island 42, 

San Turce, 174 

Saona, 239 

Sap-saps, 331 

Satinwood, in Santo Domingo, 257 

Savana de la Puerta, 244 

Savana-la-Mar, 191, 193, 195, 223 

Scaife, W. B., on the future of Cuba, 138, 139 

Scarborough, Tobago, 371 

Schomburgk, Sir Robert H., on the min- 
erals of Santo Domingo, 245 

Scorpion, the, 56 

Scotch dialect, among: Bahama negroes, 301 

Scotch Kirk, iu Jamaica, 207 

Scotch negroes, 390 

Scotland, emigration to Jamaica, 203, 204 

Scotland, Barbados, 374 

Scotland district, Barbados, 374, 375, 377 

Scrub Island, 309 

Scrutton's Steamship Company, 301 

Sea-birds, on Morant Keys, 235 

Sea-gardens, 298 

Seals, in Jamaica, 199 

Seborucco, the, 31, 36, 151, 194 

Selenodon, the, in Santo Domingo, 250 

Selma "Times," on superstition in Ala- 
bama, 398 

Serers, 285 

Serpent-worship, 393, 394, 396 

Serra de Casa, Rio de, 144 

Serrano, General, 124 

Seville oranges, iu Jamaica, 210 

Seybo, 262 

Seylo, Plain of, 247 

Shaddocks : in Haiti, 272; Jamaica, 210 

Sharks, in Santo Domingo, 249 

Sheep : in Anegada, 315 ; Cuba, 81 ; Tobago, 
371 

Shell-fish, in the Bahamas, 299 

Shells, 15, 22 

Shettlewood, 225 

Ship-building, in Cuba, 64 

Sicily, the lemons of, 136 



Sierra Cibao, 29, 241, 242, 246, 247 

Sierra Cubitas, 42 

Sierra de Cayey, 147 

Sierra del Cobre, 40 

Sierra de la Monte Cristi, 246 

Sierra del Marta, 3 

Sierra de los Organos, 40, 41, 79 

Sierra Luquillo, 147, 151 

Sierra Maestra, 4, 29, 30, 37, 39-^, 50, 82, 83, 
127, 129, 131, 185, 190, 234, 240 

Sierra Matahambre, 44 

Sierra Zatibonico, 42 

Sigsbee, Captain C. D., deep-sea explora- 
tions by, 14 

Sigsbee Deep, the, 13 

Sigua mines, 131 

Sillon de la Viuda, 244 

Silver : in Cuba, 82, 380 ; Santo Domingo, 
249, 253, 258, 272, 380 

Silver Bank, 298 

Silver Hill, 189 

Sir John's Peak, 189 

Sisal hemp, in Bahamas, 300 

Sisters of Charity, in Haiti, 269 

Slavery : in Bahamas, 300 ; Cuba, 64, 204, 
284; Guadeloupe, 340; Haiti, 284, 285, 
287, 289-293 ; Jamaica, 204, 205, 209, 230 ; 
Lesser Antilles, 305-307 ; Porto Eico, 155, 
169, 170, 204 ; St. Thomas, 314, 316 ; Santo 
Domingo, 237, 253,; Tortola, 315; Trinidad, 
368 ; United States, 284 ; West Indies, 400 ; 
abolished : by Great Britain, 204 ; in Bra- 
zil, 289 ; Haiti, 288, 289, 291, 294 ; United 
States, 288, 291 

Slave-trade, 67, 204, 284 

Smallpox: in Cuba, 113, 140; Haiti, 279; 
Santiago city, 131 

Snake dance, in Haiti, 392, 393 

Snakes, 55, 56 ; in Santo Domingo, 250. See 
also Eeptiles 

Snake-worship, 393, 394, 396 

Socapa, La, 128 

"Soldiers of Fortune," 82 

Soledad estate, 124 

Solenodon, the, 55 

Sombrero, 19, 23, 150, 318, 319, 323 

Sorcery : in France, 399 ; United States, 398 

Soulouque, Emperor of Haiti, 273 

South America, 23, 35, 155, 186, 305, 365, 381, 
383 ; cable communications with Cuba, 
91 ; the continent, 1, 2, 4-6 ; earthquakes, 
361; islands formed from the continent, 23; 
Spain loses her colonies iu, 65, 00 ; Span- 
iards in, 289 ; trade with Porto Eico, 159 

South American Antilles, 308, 365-372 

Southward air-currents, 12 

Spain , architecture, 110, ill ; colonial ad- 
ministration, 32, 291 ; colonies, 69 ; coloni- 
zation of Cuba, 64 ; constitution of 1836, 
66; Cuba's loyalty to, 65, 66, 92; Cuba's 
relation to, 69, 70; currency, 163; diplo- 
matic relations with Haiti, 270 ; end of 
her regime in Cuba, 134 et seq.; loses and 
regains Cuba, 04 ; loss of American colo- 
nies. 65, 66; losses of men in Cuba, 67; 
loyalty of Porto Eico to, 155 ; oppression 
and spoliation of Cuba, 65-75, 92, 138; 
overthrow of the Bourbons, 65 ; posses- 
sion : of Guadeloupe, 340 ; Jamaica, 203, 
213; Porto Rico, 154; Santo Domingo, 
237, 253, 254, 258, 260-262, 289 ; provinces 
represented in Havana, 111 ; receipts of 
gold from Santo Domingo, 258 ; sends ex- 
pedition to Haiti, 292 ; size compared 
with Cuba, 36 ; source of her weakness in 
Cuba, 90; struggles for Trinidad, 368; 
struggles for West Indies,400 ; trade with : 
Cuba, 92, 93, 143; Porto Eico, 159, 162; 
West Indian possessions, 24, 25, 218, 311 



INDEX 



427 



Spaniards, in Cuba, 142 

Spanish America, 404; reciprocity with, 
405 

Spanish-American Company, the, 82 

Spanish-American mines, 131 

Spanish Antilles, 306 

Spanish Main, the, 156 

Spanish race. In the West Indies, 387, 388, 
390 

Spanish Royal Mail Steamship Company, 
Haitian service, 274 

Spanish Town, 222, 223, 225 

Spanish Town Island, 315. See also VIRGIN 
GORUA 

Spanish West Indies, visiting the, 406, 407 

Sparrow Point Company, 82 

Spices: in Jamaica, 213, 214; Trinidad, 
367 

Spiders, in Cuha, 56 

Sponges, in the Bahamas, 300, 303 

Spruce, in Santo Domingo, 243 

Standard Oil Company, worlis at San Juan, 
Porto Rico, 175 

Starvation, in Cuba, 106 

Steelton Company, the, 82 

Sternberg, Surgeon-General, on yellow 
fever in Havana, 58, 69 

Stoddard, Charles A., his " Cruising in the 
Caribbees," cited, 330 

Stomach complaints, in Cuba, 67 

Strait of Florida, the, 9, 10, 15, 17, 35 

Strait of Yucatan, the, 10, 15 

Straits of Sunda, explosion in, 361 

Stuart, William H., 131 

Suffrage, in Porto Kico, 155 

Sugar, bounties, 78 ; the impoverished in- 
dustry, 77, 78 ; in Antigua, 76, 323-325, 331 ; 
Antilles, 32 ; Barbados, 374-376, 379 ; Cuba, 
34, 44-46, 49, 62-64, 76-78, 87-91, 94, 95, 103, 
105, 106, 109, 120-127, 131, 132, 136-139, 256, 
376, 400 ; Dominica, 342-344, 401 ; Germany, 
401 ; Grenada, 364 ; Guadeloupe, 339, 340 ; 
Hawaii, 404 ; Jamaica, 198-200, 208-210, 212- 
215, 224, 228 ; Java, 77 ; Lesser Antilles, 306, 
307, 401 ; Louisiana, 404 ; Martinique, 348, 
349 ; Mexico, 77 ; Montserrat, 335 ; Porto 
Rico, 159-161, 163, 178-183 ; St. Croix, 316 ; 
St. Kltts, 331 ; St. Lucia, 359 ; St, Martin, 
320; St. Thomas, 314, 401 ; St. Vincent, 362 ; 
Santo Domingo, 253, 255-257, 262, 272, 289 ; 
Totoago, 371 ; Trinidad, 368 ; West Indies, 
20, 76-78, 400-403, 406. See also Beet- 

SUGAR 

Sugar Commission, the British, 324, 402 

Sugar-Loaf Peak, 189 

Sulphur : in the Caribbees, 380 ; Dominica, 
342 ; Haiti, 272 ; Saba, 329 ; St. Lucia, 357 

Sulphur baths, in Nevis, 333 

Superstition: in Alabama, 398; Antigua, 395; 
Barbados, 395; Georgia, 397; Jamaica, 
229, 395, 396 ; Martinique, 395 ; Massachu- 
setts, 396, 397 ; Santo Domingo, 245 ; Ten- 
nessee, 397 ; among the Vaudois, 398, 399 ; 
in the West Indies, 392-399 

Surrey County, Jamaica, 205 

Swan Island, 24 

Sweden, possession of St. Bartholomew, 
320 ; United States' trade with, 93 

Sweet potato. In Cuba, 53. See also Yams 

Taboo, the, 169 
Ta9on,Captain-General,his administration, 

66,71 
Tamarinds : in St. Croix, 316 ; St. Kitts, 331 
Tampa, Florida, 406 
Tangle River, 196 
Tariff laws, 401, 403, 405 
Taverner, on superstition in Boston, 396, 

397 



Taxation, In Cuba, 67, 71-73, 141 

Teatro Ta9on,the, 111, 112 

Tehuantepec, Isthmus of, 

Telegraph lines, in Cuba, 90, 91 

Tenencias de gobierno, G3 

Tennessee, superstition in, 397 

Terre Basses, St. Martin, 320 

Terre Neuve, 277 

Terry, Don Tomas, 132 

Tertiary period and formations, 5, 28, 40, 41, 
43, 150, 249, 310, 319, 328, 382-385 

Tetas de Managua, 42 

Tetas de Montero, 147 

Texas, 8, 11, 195 

Thackeray, W. M., on the "nigger," 227 

Tiburon, Cape and Peninsula, 186, 239, 248, 
249, 267, 271, 274, 281 

Tierra Adentro, 62, 63 

Tierra Caliente, Mexico, the flora of, 53 

Timber : in Bahamas, 299 ; Cuba, 41, 53, 54, 
81, 91, 94; Grand Cayman, 234; Jamaica, 
213 ; Porto Rico, 161 ; Santo Domingo, 243, 
247, 257 ; Tobago, 371 

Tin : in Haiti, 272 ; Santo Domingo, 249 

Tina, Mount, 241, 246 

Toar, Mesa, 43, 47 

Tobacco and cigars : in Anguilla, 319 ; Cuba, 
34, 64, 76, 78-80, 87, 88, 90, 91, 93-95, 112, 117, 
119, 127, 131, 136 ; Florida, 102 ; Jamaica, 
102, 208, 211, 215 ; Martinique, 348 ; Mexico, 
102; Porto Rico, 159-163, 178, 179; Santo 
Domingo, 255, 257, 261, 262, 269-272; To- 
bago, 371 

Tobago, 21, 23, 26, 365, 366, 370, 371 ; agricul- 
ture, 371 ; area, 19, 370 ; climate, 371 ; pop- 
ulation, 19 

Tomatoes, in Jamaica, 211 

Tom-tom, the, in Haiti, 286 

Tortoise: in Galapagos, 150; Mascarene 
Islands, 150 ; Porto Rico, 150, 181 

Tortola Island, 21, 309, 31], 314; area, 19; 
emancipation, 315; population, 19; sla- 
very, 315 

Tortuga Island, 253, 365 

Tortuguero, Lake, 148 

Torture, in Cuba, 67, 71 

Trade-winds, the, 11-13, 50, 52, 127, 140, 177, 
276, 312, 328, 374 

Treaty of Paris (1763), 64 

Tree-ferns : in Cuba, 40 ; Jamaica, 189 ; Mar- 
tinique, 352, 354 ; Porto Rico, 149 

Trelawney Parish, 193, 196, 197 

Triassic period and formations, 40 

Trinidad, 7, 8, 21-23, 26, 312, 318, 359, 365-371, 
377, 381 ; administration, 368-370, 375 ; agri- 
culture, 368-370; area, 19, 366; climate, 
367 ; commerce, 367-369 ; communications 
with New York, 406 ; discovery, 367 ; edu- 
cation, 368; flora, 366, 367 ; Froude ou the 
harbor of, 403 ; people, 367, 369, 370 ; popu- 
lation, 19, 369; railways, 368; trade with 
Barbados, 375 

Trinidad de Cuba, 37, 41, 42, 44, 47, 63, 79, 86, 
89, 107, 123-127; climate, 51; foundation 
of, 64 ; population, 98 

Trois Rivieres, Les, 276 

Trollope, Anthony, on Jamaica, 220, 225, 227, 
230; on St. Thomas, 313; on the West In- 
dies, 408 

Tropical acclimation, 388-390 

Tropical countries, relation between politi- 
cal disorganization and their rugosity, 
240 ; rainfall of, 61 ; traveling in, 60, 61 

Turgeau, 280 

Turks Island, 22, 24, 25, 233, 298, 300, 302-304, 
380 

Turtles : in Bahamas, 299, 300 ; Grand Cay- 
man, 235; Haiti, 281; on Morant Keys, 
235 ; in Santo Domingo, 250 



428 



INDEX 



Tussac, researclies into Haitian flora, 264 Versailles, Matanzas, 121 

Twelve-League Keys, 38 " Viens-viens," 245 

"Two Years in the French V/est Indies" Vieques Island, 24, 165, 182-184 

(Hearn), cited, 338 Vigia, La, 125 

Villa Clara, Cuba, 46, 63, 84, 88, 126 

Ubajay, Cuba, climate, 52 Virazon, la, 52 

Ucares, 181 Virgin Gorda, 19, 21, 309, 311, 315 

" Uncle Remus" stories, 233 Virginia, the caves of, 49; relations with 

Union pueblo, Matanzas, 122 Barbados, 377 

United Kingdom. See England ; Great Virgin Islands, 15, 16, 21, 25, 151, 183, 296, 

Britain 308-315, 384; area, 18, 19, 310; communi- 

United States, 274 ; advantages of the lib- cations with New York, 405, 406 ; decay, 

eration of Cuba, 143 ; arid lands, 33 ; caste, 315 ; discovery, 309 ; flora, 311, 314, 316 ; 

390, 402; color line, 286 ; conjuring, 394- mountains, 28 ; population, 18, 19 

399; consumption of : Cuban asphaltum, "Vixen," U. 8. brig of war, captured by 

83, 84 ; Cuban bananas, 81 ; Cuban copper, H. B. M. frigate " Southampton," 222 

84; Cuban tobacco, 80 ; Cuban iron-trade Volcanic Caribbees, the, 326-336 

with, 83; Cuban policy, 134 et seci.; cur- Volcanoes and volcanic formations, 2-6, 20, 

rency, 163 ; diplomatic relations with 23, 24, 305 ; in Antigua, 323 ; the Caribbees, 

Haiti, 270; education of Cubans in. 101, 318. 328-331, 334, 338, 340, 342, 384, 385; the 

102; emancipation, 103, 288,291; emigra- Great Antilles, 384, 385; Grenada, 364; 

tion to Haiti, 295 ; expeditions to Cuba, Guadeloupe, 338 ; St. Lucia, 357, 358 ; St. 

66, 67, 81 ; first crossing of the, 104 ; friend- Vincent, 361 ; West Indies, 400 

ship of Great Britain for, 404 ; geological Vomito, 58. See also Yellow Fever 

formation, 383; Haitians in the Eevolu- Voodooism, 392-394, 397-399; in Haiti, 267, 

tion, 290, 291; " hamts," 395; historical 283, 287, 290; Jamaica, 229; Louisiana, 

connection with the Bahamas, 300, 302 ; 393-396 

hoodoo, 394-399 ; immigration, 142 ; inter- Vuelta Abajo, 41, 44, 62, 63, 79, 88, 118, 119, 

vention in Cuba. 95, 96, 404, 408 ; lynching, 257 

390 ; manufactures, 405 ; a new winter Vuelta Arriba, the, 44, 62, 63, 88, 122, 123 
resort for, 142, 143 ; possession of Porto 

Rico, 154 ; protection, 215, 300 ; push, "Wag Water River, 189, 203, 224 

402 ; CLuestion of aunexation of San Do- Wakes, in Haiti, 286 

mingo to, 254, 255 ; reciprocity, 405 ; rec- W^aldenses, vaudouxism among the, 399 

ognizes the independence of Haiti, 267 ; Washington, D. C, climate, 51, 152 ; vau- 

a refuge for Cubans, 74 ; relation to the douxism in, 397 

West Indies, 402-408 ; the Revolution, 360 ; W^ashington, George, in Barbados, 377 

Rocky Mountain region, 3; St. Thomas Washington, Lawrence, in Barbados, 377 

and St. John offered to, 313 ; slavery, 284 ; W^ater, drinking, 60 

tonnage in the Cuban trade, 87 ; trade W^atlings Island, 298, 302, 803 

with : Bahamas, 300, 301, 303 ; Baracoa, Wax. See Beeswax 

133 ; Barbados, 376, 377 ; Cuba, 92-95, 143, Werwolf, the, 398 

256 ; Grand Cayman, 234 ; Guadeloupe, West End, St. Croix, 316 

341; Haiti, 2G9, 270; Jamaica, 209, 210, Western Department of Cuba, 63 

215-218 ; Martinictue, 348 ; Matanzas, 121 ; Western hemisphere, division of the, 1 

Porto Rico, 162, 179, 181, 184 ; San Do- West India Improvement Company, 217 

mingo, 256; Santiago, 131; Santo Do- West Indian Regiment, the, 221 

mingo, 250 ; tribute to Great Britain, 222 ; "West Indies, the, 7 ; administration, 391; 

Trinidad, 367-369; West Indian desire 402-405, 40S; agriculture, 20, 405; area, 8 

for annexation to, 313 ; witchcraft, 393-399 British navy in, 221, 323 ; buildings, 407 

United States of Colombia. See COLOMBIA caste, 390, 391 ; classification, 18-26 ; cli- 

United System of Havana, 88 mate, 12, 13, 20 ; communications : with 

University of Havana, 112, 113 Cuba, 87 ; United States, 405-407 ; Cubans 

Up-town Camp, Kingston, 221 in, 102 ; culture, 185 ; diverse characteris- 

Usine St. Madeleine, Trinidad, 368 tics of the islands, 20 et seq.; diversity of 

Utuado, 151, 152 ownership, 402, 403 ; earthquakes, 361, 400; 

east-and-west trends, 8 ; education, 392 , 

Vaca, Cabeza de, 104 emancipation, 103, 400; emigration to Ja- 

Valamaseda, Captain-General, his rule in maica, 203 ; England's struggle with 

Cu)ia, 68, 69 France in, 360 ; expulsion of yellow fever 

Valli^re, la, 242. See also MAROONS from, 59, GO ; flora, 407;;future, 400-408 ; geo- 

Valparaiso, Haiti, 276 graphical relatious, 1-6; hydrography,309; 

Vaud, snpivstilion in, 399 immorality, 103 ; influence of the French 

Vaudois, superstition among the, 398, 399 Revolution, 289, 290; inhabited islands, 

Vaudoux, 392-394, 397-399. See also Hoo- 18 et seq.; land-tenure, 401, 402; lime- 

uooiSM ; Voodoo stones, 15, 16, 23, 28, 31, 40, 41, 43, 44, 47-49, 82, 

Vaudouxism, in Haiti, 393, 396, 398, 399 85, 150, 187-193, 195-197, 242, 245, 249, 310, 319- 

Vega Real, 245, 246, 257, 259, 262 321; mineral resources, 32, 380 ; people, 387- 

Vegas, 79, 80 399 ; political conditions, 387 ; quarantine 

Velasquez, Diego, 124, 128 ; colonizes Cuba, laws, 405 ; question of annexation to the 

63, 64; flrst governor of Cuba, 108; in United States, 216; race problems, 387- 

Trinidad, 368 399 ; rains, 147 ; relation to the United 

Venezuela, 3, 4, 6, 8, 366, 371, 372 ; immigra- States, 402-408 ; sanitation, 388. 389, 407 ; 

tion from Dominica, 344 ; trade with Trin- slavery, 400 ; slave-trade, 204 ; speculation 

idad, 367 coneerniug their origin, 381-386 ; struggles 

VeraCruz, expulsion of yellow fever from, for their possession, 400, 404.408; super- 

.59 stition, 392-399; tours through, 405^07; 

Vere Parish, 195-197 •> trade with New Y'ork, 17 ; vegetation, 20 ; 

Verrettes, 278 volcanoes, 400 



INDEX 



429 



" West Indies and the'Spanish Main, The " 

(Trollope), cited, 230 
Westmoreland, 191, 193, 195 
Weyler, Captain-General, his barbarous 

administration, 69; his reconcentrami- 

ento, 106 
■Weyman, Surgeon-General, on yellow fever 

in Havana, 59 
Whidden, on cannibalism in Haiti, 393 
White, Andrew D., on tbe San Domingo- 

ans, 259 
Widow's Saddle, the, 243 
Wild dogs, in Barbiida, 321 
■Wild hogs, in Santo Domingo, 242, 250 
Willemstad, 371, 372 
Will-o'-the-wisp, the, 395 
"Windward," the word, 11 
Windward bridge, the, 381, 382 
Windward Channel, the, 10 
Windward Islands, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 21, 

28, 297, 306, 358, 364 ; administration, 375 ; 

cable communications, 91 
Windward Passage, the, 16, 28, 31, 35, 38, 

130, 241, 247, 248, 250, 277, 298, 303 
Witchcraft : in Europe, 393-395, 398, 399 ; 

Haiti, 287 ; United States, 393-399 ; West 

Indies, 393-399 
W^olofs, 285 
Women : In Haiti, 267, 269, 284^287 ; Jamaica, 

224, 226, 228-232, 234 ; Martinique, 354-356 ; 

Porto Rico, 166, 167 ; Trinidad, 367 
Wool, in Cuba, 81 



^Vreckers:in the Bahamas, 300; Barbuda, 
321 

"Xaymaca," 203 

Yagua, the, 55 

Yaguajay, 89 

Yagua Ramas, 88 

Yamanigacy, Rio, 47 

Yams, In Jamaica, 214. See also Sweet 

Potato 
Yankee River, 196 
Yaqui, Pico del, 29 

Yaqui del Norte, Rio, 31, 241, 246, 248, 261 
Yara, 127 

Yauchia, in Porto Rico, 160 
Yauco, 161 
Yellow fever : in Cuba, 58-60, 101, 113, 118, 

121, 131; Haiti, 279, 294; Jamaica, 201; 

Porto Rico, 153, 179 ; West Indies. 389 
Yorktown, surrender at, 360 
Yucatan, 4, 5, 9, 11, 15, 35 ; water-supply, 299 
Yucatan Channel, the, 9, 15-17, 35, 38 
Yumuri, tbe river and valley of the, 45-47, 

120-122, 132 
Yuna, Rio, 241, 246, 248, 262 
Yunque Mountain, 147 

Zanjon, surrender of, 99 

Zapata, the, 44, 48 

" Zombi," in Martinique, 395 



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